Trust Investment Advisors Buys Verizon Communications Inc, DowDuPont Inc, Lam Research Corp, Sells G

Indianapolis, IN, based Investment company Trust Investment Advisors buys Verizon Communications Inc, DowDuPont Inc, Lam Research Corp, Southwest Airlines Co, Schlumberger, Ulta Beauty Inc, Darden Restaurants Inc, Celgene Corp, sells German American Bancorp, Kimball International Inc, Mattel Inc, Gilead Sciences Inc, Chevron Corp during the 3-months ended 2018-03-31, according to the most recent filings of the investment company, Trust Investment Advisors. As of 2018-03-31, Trust Investment Advisors owns 84 stocks with a total value of $87 million. These are the details of the buys and sells.

New Purchases: VZ, DWDP, LRCX, Added Positions: LUV, ULTA, SLB, DRI, CELG, DG, KR, LOW, FDX, EOG, Reduced Positions: GABC, AAPL, UNH, GSK, CAT, LLY, TJX, HST, IRM, PKG, Sold Out: KBAL, MAT, GILD, CVX, AFSI, UA,

For the details of Trust Investment Advisors's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Trust+Investment+Advisors

These are the top 5 holdings of Trust Investment AdvisorsApple Inc (AAPL) - 28,011 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 3.5%Microsoft Corp (MSFT) - 41,735 shares, 4.37% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 2.34%Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) - 53,400 shares, 3.16% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 1.02%Eli Lilly and Co (LLY) - 25,460 shares, 2.26% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 4.86%UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH) - 9,060 shares, 2.23% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 7.88%New Purchase: Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)

Trust Investment Advisors initiated holding in Verizon Communications Inc. The purchase prices were between $46.29 and $54.72, with an estimated average price of $50.26. The stock is now traded at around $48.08. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.51%. The holding were 27,547 shares as of 2018-03-31.

New Purchase: DowDuPont Inc (DWDP)

Trust Investment Advisors initiated holding in DowDuPont Inc. The purchase prices were between $62.41 and $77.02, with an estimated average price of $71.42. The stock is now traded at around $64.31. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.13%. The holding were 15,500 shares as of 2018-03-31.

New Purchase: Lam Research Corp (LRCX)

Trust Investment Advisors initiated holding in Lam Research Corp. The purchase prices were between $162.23 and $228.65, with an estimated average price of $198.07. The stock is now traded at around $200.14. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.66%. The holding were 2,830 shares as of 2018-03-31.

Added: Southwest Airlines Co (LUV)

Trust Investment Advisors added to a holding in Southwest Airlines Co by 29.83%. The purchase prices were between $55.5 and $66.29, with an estimated average price of $60.05. The stock is now traded at around $51.71. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.19%. The holding were 12,627 shares as of 2018-03-31.

Added: Ulta Beauty Inc (ULTA)

Trust Investment Advisors added to a holding in Ulta Beauty Inc by 28.74%. The purchase prices were between $194 and $245.12, with an estimated average price of $216.39. The stock is now traded at around $250.74. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.17%. The holding were 3,270 shares as of 2018-03-31.

Added: Schlumberger Ltd (SLB)

Trust Investment Advisors added to a holding in Schlumberger Ltd by 71.32%. The purchase prices were between $63.21 and $79.79, with an estimated average price of $69.84. The stock is now traded at around $67.40. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.17%. The holding were 5,525 shares as of 2018-03-31.

Added: Darden Restaurants Inc (DRI)

Trust Investment Advisors added to a holding in Darden Restaurants Inc by 23.63%. The purchase prices were between $84.22 and $99.31, with an estimated average price of $94.69. The stock is now traded at around $87.60. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.12%. The holding were 6,410 shares as of 2018-03-31.

Added: Celgene Corp (CELG)

Trust Investment Advisors added to a holding in Celgene Corp by 26.84%. The purchase prices were between $84.98 and $109.14, with an estimated average price of $96. The stock is now traded at around $78.17. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.11%. The holding were 4,915 shares as of 2018-03-31.

Sold Out: Kimball International Inc (KBAL)

Trust Investment Advisors sold out a holding in Kimball International Inc. The sale prices were between $16.17 and $19.37, with an estimated average price of $17.68.

Sold Out: Mattel Inc (MAT)

Trust Investment Advisors sold out a holding in Mattel Inc. The sale prices were between $12.8 and $17.76, with an estimated average price of $15.59.

Sold Out: Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD)

Trust Investment Advisors sold out a holding in Gilead Sciences Inc. The sale prices were between $72.84 and $88.8, with an estimated average price of $79.49.

Sold Out: Chevron Corp (CVX)

Trust Investment Advisors sold out a holding in Chevron Corp. The sale prices were between $109.06 and $133.6, with an estimated average price of $119.74.

Sold Out: AmTrust Financial Services Inc (AFSI)

Trust Investment Advisors sold out a holding in AmTrust Financial Services Inc. The sale prices were between $10.14 and $13.42, with an estimated average price of $12.54.

Sold Out: Under Armour Inc (UA)

Trust Investment Advisors sold out a holding in Under Armour Inc. The sale prices were between $11.87 and $16.54, with an estimated average price of $14.09.

Here is the complete portfolio of Trust Investment Advisors. Also check out:

1. Trust Investment Advisors's Undervalued Stocks
2. Trust Investment Advisors's Top Growth Companies, and
3. Trust Investment Advisors's High Yield stocks
4. Stocks that Trust Investment Advisors keeps buying

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Invest In 2018

tags:CCJ,DNOW,HSEA,MITK,HIFR,

A recent survey from Accenture showed that 26% U.S. consumers have had their personal medical information stolen from technology systems, and half of those who experienced a breach were victims of medical identity theft. On average, those victims had to pay around $2,500 in out-of-pocket costs per incident.

The breaches were most likely to occur in hospitals (36%), followed by urgent-care clinics (22%), pharmacies (22%), physician��s offices (21%) and health insurers (21%). Half of consumers who experienced a breach discovered it themselves, through noting an error on their credit card statement or benefits explanation, while only one-third were alerted to the breach by the organization at which it occurred.

The latest count from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reports that the medical/health care sector leads all others in the number of records compromised so far in 2017. The sector posted 31.9% (46) of all data breaches. The number of records exposed in these breaches totaled tops 630,000, or about 61.6% of the 2017 total.

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Invest In 2018: Cameco Corporation(CCJ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  This morning before the market opened, uranium producer Cameco Corporation (NYSE: CCJ) reported Q1 2018 results which should be looked over by investors in other potential�uranium players like small cap Azincourt Energy Corp (TSX-V: AAZ; OTCMKTS: AZURF) as CCJ�would be one of the world��s largest uranium producers, a significant supplier of conversion services and one of two Candufuel manufacturers in Canada. Cameco Corporation also�says its�competitive position is based on�controlling ownership of the world��s largest high-grade reserves and low-cost operations.�

• [By Max Byerly]

  Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) and Abtech (OTCMKTS:ABHD) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market fell on Tuesday, with losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average weighing down a broader market that was a lot closer to the unchanged level. A rise early in the day gave way to greater uncertainty later when President Trump signaled that an expected meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might not actually happen, but some on Wall Street also noted the need to consolidate recent sharp gains with a quieter day of trading. Bad news from some corners of the market also affected sentiment. Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), and Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  Being a uranium miner hasn't been easy lately, with the spot price of the nuclear fuel hovering near 14-year lows. It's no wonder, then, that Cameco Corp. (NYSE:CCJ), the largest publicly traded uranium miner in the world,�has seen its shares fall more than 70% over the past decade. Earnings results, meanwhile, have dipped into the red over the last two years. Believe it or not, however, there's a bright side to all this bad news. Here's what you need to know.� �

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Invest In 2018: NOW Inc.(DNOW)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  ValuEngine upgraded shares of DistributionNOW (NYSE:DNOW) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

  A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. TheStreet upgraded DistributionNOW from a d+ rating to a c rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on DistributionNOW from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 3rd. Cowen restated a market perform rating and set a $11.00 price objective (up previously from $9.00) on shares of DistributionNOW in a research note on Thursday, May 3rd. Susquehanna Bancshares set a $11.00 price objective on DistributionNOW and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, April 13th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group restated a neutral rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of DistributionNOW in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.00.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Here are some of the news stories that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:

  Get Alaska Air Group alerts: 68 percent of flight attendants say they have experienced sexual harassment on the job (finance.yahoo.com) ValuEngine Lowers Alaska Air Group (ALK) to Sell (americanbankingnews.com) Enamoring Five Stocks: Fitbit, Inc. (NYSE:FIT), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK), NOW Inc. (NYSE:DNOW), Leidos … (thestreetpoint.com) Average True Range under Trader’s Radar �� Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) (stocktradingdesk.com) Undertaking Stocks: Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK), Innoviva, Inc. (NASDAQ … (journalfinance.net)

  ALK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price objective on Alaska Air Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Buckingham Research dropped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet lowered Alaska Air Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered Alaska Air Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Shares of DistributionNOW (NYSE:DNOW) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.50.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) and DistributionNOW (NYSE:DNOW) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Invest In 2018: HSBC Holdings plc(HSEA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Bio-Path Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPTH) shares rose 29.5 percent to $2.15 in pre-market trading after reporting pre-clinical data demonstrating potential of Prexigebersen presented at the annual American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Chicago. Sientra, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIEN) rose 16.7 percent to $12.90 in pre-market trading following the announcement of FDA approval for PMA supplement. Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) rose 13.5 percent to $2.95 in pre-market trading after climbing 14.04 percent on Wednesday. Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE: HMY) rose 5.6 percent to $2.09 in pre-market trading. Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA) shares rose 5 percent to $62.32 in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised its FY18 adjusted EBITDA outlook. Gold Fields Limited (ADR) (NYSE: GFI) shares rose 4.9 percent to $4.11 in pre-market trading after gaining 1.03 percent on Wednesday. ABB Ltd (NYSE: ABB) shares rose 4.3 percent to $24.47 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. WPP plc (NYSE: WPP) rose 4.2 percent to $82.99 in pre-market trading. American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) rose 4 percent to $98.95 in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected profit for its first quarter. HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HSEA) rose 3.4 percent to $27.30 in pre-market trading. Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) rose 3.4 percent to $167.95 in pre-market trading. Takada offered to buy Shire at £46.50 per share, Reuters reported. Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE: VIPS) rose 3.1 percent to $16.43 in pre-market trading. iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) shares rose 3 percent to $63.66 in the pre-market trading session.

  Find out what's going on in today's market and bring any questions you have to Benzinga's PreMarket Prep.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

  Losers Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) fell 13.4 percent to $51.10 in pre-market trading after the company reported downbeat earnings for its first quarter and lowered its profit outlook for the year. Integrated Media Technology Limited (NASDAQ: IMTE) fell 9.8 percent to $28.97 in pre-market trading after surging 46.29 percent on Thursday. Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO) shares fell 8.2 percent to $8.81 in pre-market trading after the company reported Q1 results and disclosed that it is withdrawing its FY18 outlook for adjusted EBITDA, airborne cash capex, airborne equipment inventory purchases and free cash flow. Sharing Economy International Inc. (NASDAQ: SEII) shares fell 7.5 percent to $3.98 in pre-market trading after climbing 22.16 percent on Thursday. Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ANET) fell 7.4 percent to $248.00 in pre-market trading following first-quarter earnings. Web.com Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WEB) fell 6.7 percent to $18.00 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. Varex Imaging Corporation (NASDAQ: VREX) fell 5.2 percent to $34 in pre-market trading after reporting Q2 results. Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (NYSE: TKC) shares fell 5.2 percent to $7.60 in pre-market trading after dropping 3.02 percent on Thursday. AMN Healthcare Services, Inc (NYSE: AMN) shares fell 4.7 percent to $61.70 in pre-market trading following Q1 earnings. HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HSEA) fell 4.6 percent to $25.15 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) shares fell 4 percent to $16.66 in pre-market trading after dropping 2.86 percent on Thursday. Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MLCO) fell 4 percent to $30.65 in pre-market trading. Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ: CENX) fell 4 percent to $15.76 in pre-market trading following Q1 results. HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HSBC) shares fell 3.5 percent to $48.10 in pre-market tr

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Invest In 2018: Mitek Systems, Inc.(MITK)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  Mitek Systems (MITK) : "This one is too speculative for me. I'd buy NVIDIA (NVDA) ."

  AK Steel Holding (AKS) : "They're not the lo- cost producer. That's Nucor (NUE) and that's the way you want to go."

• [By Max Byerly]

  ValuEngine downgraded shares of Mitek Systems (NASDAQ:MITK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

  A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MITK. BidaskClub upgraded Mitek Systems from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Mitek Systems from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 29th. Finally, National Securities assumed coverage on Mitek Systems in a research report on Friday, March 9th. They issued a buy rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $12.00.

• [By Brian Feroldi, Leo Sun, and Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

  So, which stocks are potential hidden winners that can be safely purchased today? We asked a team of investors to weigh in, and they picked�Sogou (NYSE:SOGO), TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX), and Mitek Systems (NASDAQ:MITK).�

• [By ]

  Cramer was bearish on Geron (GERN) , Mitek Systems (MITK) , AK Steel Holding (AKS) , Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) and AbbVie (ABBV) .

  Search Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" trading recommendations using our exclusive "Mad Money" Stock Screener.

Top 5 Medical Stocks To Invest In 2018: InfraREIT, Inc.(HIFR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on InfraREIT (HIFR)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Reaves W H & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in InfraREIT (NYSE:HIFR) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,342,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 303,392 shares during the quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. owned approximately 3.05% of InfraREIT worth $26,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Analysts Set Nexeo Solutions (NXEO) Price Target at $11.17

Nexeo Solutions (NASDAQ:NXEO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.17.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Investment Research raised Nexeo Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 11th. Jefferies Group upgraded Nexeo Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 26th. ValuEngine downgraded Nexeo Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank started coverage on Nexeo Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Get Nexeo Solutions alerts:

Shares of Nexeo Solutions traded down $0.08, hitting $9.59, during mid-day trading on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 81,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,364. Nexeo Solutions has a 52 week low of $6.74 and a 52 week high of $11.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $867.80 million, a PE ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Nexeo Solutions (NASDAQ:NXEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.05). Nexeo Solutions had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 1.30%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.84 million. analysts forecast that Nexeo Solutions will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Park West Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nexeo Solutions by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC now owns 7,049,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,632,000 after buying an additional 31,528 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Nexeo Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,111,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nexeo Solutions by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,541,424 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,492,000 after buying an additional 21,412 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in shares of Nexeo Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,883,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nexeo Solutions by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,280,000 after buying an additional 133,442 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

About Nexeo Solutions

Nexeo Solutions, Inc operates as a chemical and plastic products distributor in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company operates through Chemicals, Plastics, and Environmental Services segments. It provides approximately 22,000 products used in various industries, including household, industrial and institutional, lubricants, architectural coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, automotive, healthcare, personal care, oil and gas, and construction.

Muni-Bond Sales Sold by Auction Poised to Reach Two-Decade High

State and local governments are selling the greatest share of their bonds competitive bidding in more than two decades as issuers including New York and Rhode Island embrace auctions as a way to save taxpayers money and boost transparency.

Municipalities have sold $33 billion of municipal bonds this year through auctions, about 28 percent of total sales, instead of relying on underwriters picked in advance to set the interest rates and line up buyers. If that percentage holds for the rest of 2018, it would be the highest since 1994, according to The Bond Buyer Yearbook.

The shift comes as sales of new bonds have tumbled this year, leaving banks eager to bid on new deals, after Congress did away with tax-exempt debt sales for a popular refinancing tactic that governments often relied on underwriters to arrange. New York plans to sell at least half of its debt in the current fiscal year, or about $3.5 billion, on a competitive basis, according to the state’s capital program and financing plan released this month. Last year, the state auctioned off 79 percent of its debt, about $6.6 billion.

"New York is achieving lower interest and underwriting costs by doing about half our sales through the competitive marketplace, saving money for taxpayers," said Morris Peters, a spokesman for the Division of the Budget. “The decision of whether to conduct a competitive sale reflects market conditions and the level of complexity, but even when we need bank expertise afforded by a negotiated sale, the benchmark set by competitive sales helps with the pricing."

In a competitive sale an issuer offers its bonds for sale and banks bid against each other to purchase the securities at the lowest cost to the issuer. The bank assumes the risk that it might not be able to sell all the bonds it bought. In a negotiated sale, a municipality hires a pool of banks to find buyers, with interest rates set in discussions with those underwriters.

Last year, states and local governments sold about 24 percent through auction, their highest level since 2000. Bank of America Corp. is the top underwriter of competitive deals this year, winning more than a quarter of municipal bonds auctioned.

Debt issued by highly-rated municipalities, well-known issuers or with simple structures -- such as bonds backed by a general pledge to pay or by utility revenues -- are suitable for sale by auction, said Jonas Biery, business services manager at Portland, Oregon’s Bureau of Environmental Services and the chair of the Government Finance Officers Association’s debt committee.

By contrast, negotiated sales are suitable for lower-rated bonds, debt with unique security features and terms or securities sold by infrequent borrowers.

“If you think about the volume of things that go the market, there should be more competitive sales," Biery said. “The majority of credits are going to be more akin to well rated, A or above, fairly standard terms, fairly standard credits."

Biery speculated that the share of competitive sales has grown because Congress abolished advanced refundings, which were often sold by negotiation, the volume of lower-rated debt sales has dropped and direct loans by banks has declined because the reduction in corporate tax rates made them less lucrative for lenders.

Rhode Island adopted a policy of issuing general-obligation bonds through competitive bid in 2016 after newly elected state treasurer Seth Magaziner realized the state hadn’t auctioned its bonds in a decade.

“We thought it would be a more transparent approach to begin selling the state’s GO debt competitively," said Kelly Rogers, Rhode Island’s deputy treasurer for policy and public finance. “Through a competitive sale you’re able to point to the specific savings that you potentially gain through the bidding process, which is information you’re not privy to through the negotiated process."

When Rhode Island auctioned $150 million in tax-exempt and taxable bonds last month, the winning bids saved the state $1.5 million, said Rogers.

New York State, one of the biggest issuers of municipal bonds, could push the percentage of competitive sales over 30 percent.

In fiscal 2009, New York instituted a policy to sell 25 percent of its bonds competitively, raising that to 50 percent three years later. Over the past five years, the state has sold $19.4 billion of its debt, or 60 percent of the total issued, through competitive bid, according to the state’s division of the budget.

A budget division analysis of New York’s personal income tax-backed bounds found that the yields on bonds sold by competitive bidding were 0.1 percentage point closer to the benchmark, on average, than when the state selects an underwriter in advance, said Peters.

New York also pays lower fees to underwriters on competitive sales. Over the last five years, the state paid $2.19 per $1,000 bonds for bonds sold by auction and $4.79 per $1,000 on negotiated deals, on average, for personal income tax- and sales tax-backed securities, according to Peters.

— With assistance by Joe Mysak

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Baidu's AI Brain Drain Continues

Shares of Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) tumbled 10% on May 18, after the�company announced the upcoming departure of COO Qi Lu in July. Prior to joining Baidu in early 2017, Lu served as�Microsoft's executive VP of its Applications and Services Group. As one of the industry's leading AI experts, Lu played a key role in Baidu's transition from an online search company to a cloud and AI services provider.

When Lu initially joined Baidu, CEO Robin Li�stated: "With Dr. Lu on board, we are confident that our strategy will be executed smoothly and Baidu will become a world-class technology company and global leader in AI." Lu stated that he was "excited to help realize Baidu's visionary AI strategy."

Image source: Getty Images.

Lu will remain vice chairman of Baidu's board but stated that he was "no longer able to work in China on a full-time basis" for "personal and family reasons." His departure will likely hurt Baidu, which is battling Tencent (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY) and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) in the cloud and AI markets.

This also wouldn't be the first time Baidu lost a major leader in its AI efforts. Let's take a look back at Baidu's AI initiatives and analyze the unit's brain drain issues.

Understanding Baidu's AI business

Baidu's "Baidu Brain" unit improves the company's machine-learning algorithms, core search technologies, analytics, and big data applications.

The division created Baidu's virtual assistant Duer and its platform DuerOS,�opened labs in Silicon Valley to work with American tech companies, and launched an open-source platform for autonomous cars called Apollo. Robin Li believes that Baidu's self-driving cars, which are powered by its AI and�mapping technologies, will hit public roads in China "within three to five years." The unit is also�building a state-backed engineering laboratory for�deep-learning technologies in China.

Baidu Brain also partners with other companies, like Huawei and Xiaomi, to expand its reach by deploying its APIs into mobile and Internet of Things devices. Those moves widen Baidu's moat against Alibaba -- which leverages its e-commerce and cloud infrastructure platform to expand its AI efforts; and Tencent, which leverages its WeChat messaging app, video games, and streaming services to do the same.

If Baidu holds these rivals at bay, it can gather more data from its users via DuerOS devices, process its search data into better-targeted ads, and expand its AI-powered ecosystem into adjacent markets like streaming media, fintech, and smart retail.

But it's been a bumpy ride

Baidu hired Qi Lu to sharpen those efforts, but Lu's arrival preceded the departures of three other key AI executives: Andrew Ng, Zhang Tong, and Adam Coates.

Image source: Getty Images.

Andrew Ng, who became Baidu's chief scientist in�2014, resigned in March 2017 to pursue other opportunities. Prior to joining Baidu, Ng was an associate professor at Stanford University and a founding leader of Alphabet's Google Brain Team.

Just two days after�Ng's resignation, Tencent poached Zhang Tong -- who previously led Baidu's Big Data Lab -- to lead its own AI Lab. At the time, Tencent's AI team of 50 scientists and 200 engineers was much smaller than Baidu's team of 1,300 AI employees.

In September, Adam Coates, the director of�Baidu's Silicon Valley AI Lab, also resigned. Coates was responsible for promoting Baidu's machine-learning efforts in the U.S. and applying deep learning to natural language processing tasks like text-to-speech and speech recognition. Coates notably did his post-doctoral research at Stanford, under Ng.

Is Baidu losing its edge in the AI market?

Baidu's loss of four key AI executives in just over a year is troubling, and it indicates that the company could be struggling with management issues as it faces tougher competition from Tencent and Alibaba.

Lu's successor as AI chief, Haifeng Wang, has been with Baidu since 2010. However, it's unknown if Wang will fare better than his predecessors, who all seemed to jump ship just as the market was getting more interesting.

Rio Tinto Is Ready to Accept $3.5 Billion Deal to Exit Grasberg

Rio Tinto Group is ready to accept a $3.5 billion deal with Indonesia for its interest in the giant Grasberg copper and gold mine, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

A deal for Rio’s exit still depends on Freeport-McMoRan Inc. striking an agreement to transfer some of its stake to a local firm, according to the people, who asked not be identified because the matter is confidential. No deal has been signed and an agreement may still not be reached. Shares in Freeport surged on the news, while Rio pared a loss in New York Tuesday.

State-owned PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium, known as Inalum, plans to acquire Rio’s joint venture interest in the operation under a wider arrangement aimed at taking control of Freeport’s local unit, said the people. PT Freeport Indonesia is the owner and operator of Grasberg, the world’s No. 2 copper mine.

Both Rio Tinto and Inalum declined to comment, while a spokesman for Freeport didn’t respond to a request for comment. Riza Pratama, a spokesman for PT-FI, said the company hopes to conclude negotiations by the end of June.

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Talks on the future of Grasberg have dragged on for more than a year as Freeport has sought to agree to terms to cede majority ownership, part of a deal that will allow the producer to keep operating in the country. Foreign miners have been given until 2019 to comply with divestment obligations imposed amid a push by President Joko Widodo’s government to exert more local control over the nation’s resources.

Rio, the world’s No. 2 miner, has been a partner in Grasberg since the 1990s under an agreement that helped Freeport finance an expansion. The London-based producer currently holds rights to a 40 percent share of output above specific levels, and had expected that to shift to 40 percent of all production from 2023, according to an April filing.

A tide of resource nationalism is causing miners to rethink where they invest, Rio Chief Executive Officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques said in a May 15 speech in Miami. The producer has flagged a strategy to continue to exit from unwanted operations, after agreeing to $5 billion worth of asset sales this year.

Freeport shares jumped as much as 6.5 percent in New York on Tuesday. They were up 3.6 percent at 3:43 p.m., while Rio’s U.S. shares were down 0.2 percent after falling as much as 0.7 percent earlier in the day.

— With assistance by Thomas Biesheuvel, Laura Millan Lombrana, Viriya Singgih, Yoga Rusmana, and Steven Frank

(Updates with shares in second and last paragraphs.) LISTEN TO ARTICLE 2:23 Share Share on Facebook Post to Twitter Send as an Email Print

��Greek-like crisis�� fears hang over Italy���s markets as populists ready government

Italy��s two largest antiestablishment parties are ready to present their prime minister candidate to President Sergio Mattarella on Monday, moving one step closer to forming a government that analysts fear could plunge the country into a sovereign debt crisis and threaten the future of the eurozone.

On Sunday, the populist 5 Star Movement and far-right anti-immigrant League party agreed on the main members of their cabinet, including who they��d like to see as prime minister in their coalition government. The name of the proposed prime minister has not been confirmed, but local media point to Giuseppe Conte, a 54-year-year old university professor without much political experience.

Mattarella is expected to confirm the coalition, paving the way for a euroskeptic government to lead the eurozone��s third largest economy.

��The prospect for a new Greek-like crisis but on a larger scale in Italy are rising. An inexperienced and malcontent government appears set to assume office and poses a new potential threat to the euro even if the data improves,�� said strategists at BBH in a note on Monday.

The 5 Star Movement and League already look set on a collision course with the European Union, having promised to challenge Brussels��s budget guidelines and rules on immigration.The two coalition parties have also vowed to increase fiscal spending and cut taxes �� moves some worry could throw the Italian economy into disarray and create a new sovereign debt crisis.

Those concerns have spooked traders in Italian markets. The FTSE MIB stock index I945, -0.92% lost 0.8% to 23,261.22 on Monday, falling in an otherwise upbeat European trading session. That loss comes after the index dropped 2.9% last week for its biggest weekly slump since the week of the election in early March.

The euro EURUSD, -0.0170% �fell to a five-year low around $1.1762, although that slide partly was due to a rising dollar.

In the bond market, traders are also demanding a higher yield to buy Italian paper, an indicator markets are becoming nervous about the country��s financial stability. The yield on 10-year Italian government bonds TMBMKIT-10Y, +4.86% �rose 6 basis points to 2.281% on Monday, while the spread over German bunds rose to its highest level since October last year at 173 basis points, or 1.73 percentage point.

While still far from the danger zone, rising bond yields in Europe revive memories of the Greek debt crisis in 2015. After months of negotiations between Greece��s government and its international creditors, the two sides in July 2015 reached a deal to avert a Greek default. At the time, there were worries that a bankruptcy in Greece could lead to ��Grexit�� �� shorthand for Greece leaving the eurozone �� and eventually spell the end for the entire monetary union.

Moreover, it stirs memories of the worst days of the eurozone debt crisis in 2011 and 2012, when the 2-year Italian yield soared to more than 7%. Yields later retreated, with ECB President Mario Draghi��s 2012 pledge to do ��whatever it takes�� to preserve the euro and the eventual formulation of a never-used program of emergency bond purchases serving to calm fears. Later, the ECB��s introduction of bond buying via its quantitative easing program helped drive yields lower across the eurozone.

The 5 Star Movement and League dialed back euroskeptic rhetoric ahead of the March election and are no longer calling for an Italy referendum on the shared currency. However, their disapproval of EU and ECB fiscal rules are keeping breakup fears alive. Markets reacted last week when a draft proposal on shared power called on Brussels to come up with a plan that would let member countries leave the euro if they so desired, language that was later dropped.

In that vein, France��s economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, warned on Sunday that a failure by Italy to stick to the EU��s financial rules could threaten stability of the entire eurozone monetary union.

��Investors might have not realized it yet but the resolution of the Italian political deadlock with the League and 5 Star Movement parties close to forming a coalition government might not be such a positive development after all,�� said Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADS Securities, in a note.

��The formation of a working government would be favorable compared to the lack of political leadership but the agenda of the two parties puts to the question Italy��s future in the European Union,�� he said.

Italy has a long history of political t

Satish Menon Sells 3,980 Shares of Shutterfly (SFLY) Stock

Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY) SVP Satish Menon sold 3,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.76, for a total transaction of $377,144.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,980 shares in the company, valued at $2,746,144.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Shares of SFLY traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.60. The company had a trading volume of 469,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,655. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.58. Shutterfly has a 1-year low of $39.76 and a 1-year high of $95.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 90.10 and a beta of 0.88.

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Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The technology company reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $192.02 million. Shutterfly had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 7.80%. Shutterfly’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.84) earnings per share. sell-side analysts expect that Shutterfly will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shutterfly declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

SFLY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Shutterfly to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 6th. Aegis reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Shutterfly in a research report on Sunday, February 4th. BidaskClub raised shares of Shutterfly from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Shutterfly from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 3rd. Finally, SunTrust Banks raised their target price on shares of Shutterfly to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Shutterfly during the first quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Shutterfly during the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Shutterfly during the first quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Koch Industries Inc. acquired a new position in Shutterfly during the first quarter valued at approximately $330,000. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Shutterfly during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000.

Shutterfly Company Profile

Shutterfly, Inc manufactures and retails personalized products and services primarily in the United States, Canada, and the European Community. The company operates through Consumer and Shutterfly Business Solutions segments. It offers a range of personalized photo-based products and services that enable consumers to upload, edit, enhance, organize, find, share, create, print, and preserve their memories.

Top 5 Casino Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:PBR,BLMN,ANET,TEN,ECL,

The casino sector offers a lot of color beyond the characters one expects to find as their customers according to the movies. Local nuances in Macau, Las Vegas, online gambling, and new areas lead to industry-wide changes and company-level opportunities for investors.

Recent headlines have focused on headwinds in Macau - with revenue down for its third consecutive year but perhaps bottoming - potential tailwinds in Japan, and the possibility of liberalization of online gambling and sports betting laws in the US. That said, the general performance of the sector's leading lights has not been great.

Top 5 Casino Stocks To Buy Right Now: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Improving oil prices mean a "major change" to the investment profile of Brazil-based Petroleo Brasil/ADR (NYSE: PBR), according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Short interest at Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, increased to 53.95 million shares from the previous 45.15 million. The stock traded at $12.65 a share, in a 52-week range of $7.61 to $13.99. Unfortunately, Petrobras may be trading on an entirely different set of fundamentals and sentiment due to its ongoing woes in Brazil.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Petr贸leo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James. Its American depositary shares�closed down 0.5% at $14.30 on Friday.

• [By Lisa Levin] Companies Reporting Before The Bell Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.11 per share on revenue of $1.85 billion. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.44 per share on revenue of $1.99 billion. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.89 per share on revenue of $3.63 billion. Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.92 per share on revenue of $3.17 billion. Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.57 per share on revenue of $926.18 million. The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.24 per share on revenue of $2.98 billion. Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPD) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.64 per share on revenue of $1.71 billion. US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE: USFD) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.32 per share on revenue of $5.98 billion. DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.7 per share on revenue of $3.50 billion. Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $2.06 per share on revenue of $936.98 million. Camping World Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CWH) is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.42 per share on revenue of $1.06 billion. Perrigo Company plc (NYSE: PRGO) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $1.14 per share on revenue of $1.21 billion. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) is estimated to report quarterly earnings at $0.28 per share on revenue of $23.80 billion. JD.com, Inc. (NYSE: JD) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.18 per share on revenue of $15.65 billion. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX) is projected to report quarterly earnings at $0.6 per share o
• [By Chris Lange]

  Short interest at Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, increased to 34.35 million shares from the previous 31.85 million. The stock traded at $13.40 a share, in a 52-week range of $7.61 to $14.93. Unfortunately, Petrobras may be trading on an entirely different set of fundamentals and sentiment due to its ongoing woes in Brazil.

Top 5 Casino Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bloomin' Brands, Inc.(BLMN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: “Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN) Receives $22.63 Consensus Price Target from Analysts” was published by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this piece of content on another domain, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of U.S. and international copyright laws. The original version of this piece of content can be viewed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/3379609/bloomin-brands-blmn-receives-22-63-consensus-price-target-from-analysts.html.

Top 5 Casino Stocks To Buy Right Now: Arista Networks, Inc.(ANET)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 3rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $472.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $463.39 million. Arista Networks had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 28.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

• [By Timothy Green]

  Shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) slumped on Friday after the networking hardware company reported its first-quarter results. While Arista beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings, guidance calling for a slowdown in revenue growth and gross margin deterioration seems to have overshadowed an otherwise positive report. As of 11:25 a.m. EDT, Arista stock was down about 9.2%.

• [By ]

  Arista Networks (ANET) : "That's a great company with a great CEO."

  Dr. Pepper Snapple (DPS) : "You need to wait until the merger closes, then it'll be OK."

Top 5 Casino Stocks To Buy Right Now: Tenneco Inc.(TEN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) and China Automotive Systems (NASDAQ:CAAS) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Tokenomy (CURRENCY:TEN) traded 0.7% lower against the dollar during the one day period ending at 23:00 PM ET on May 13th. In the last seven days, Tokenomy has traded down 18.2% against the dollar. One Tokenomy token can now be purchased for approximately $0.26 or 0.00003099 BTC on major cryptocurrency exchanges. Tokenomy has a market capitalization of $32.49 million and approximately $411,692.00 worth of Tokenomy was traded on exchanges in the last day.

• [By Jim Crumly]

  As for individual stocks,�Verifone Systems (NYSE:PAY) is being acquired by a group of private investors, and Tenneco (NYSE:TEN) is buying an auto parts business before splitting into two public companies.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Gentex (NASDAQ: GNTX) and Tenneco (NYSE:TEN) are both mid-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings and dividends.

Top 5 Casino Stocks To Buy Right Now: Ecolab Inc.(ECL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  3. Ecolab (NYSE: ECL)
  This water, hygiene, and energy services company is being heavily bought by Bill Gates. Mr. Gates has purchased around a million shares across several transactions in the last 30 days. His purchase price was between $134.00 and $137.00 per share.

• [By ]

  In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Goldman Sachs (GS) , Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) , Ecolab (ECL) , PTC (PTC) , Arista Networks (ANET) , U.S. Concrete (USCR) and Masco (MAS) .

• [By ]

  Ecolab (ECL) : "That's a terrific situation that I want you to buy more of if it comes down."

  PTC (PTC) : "Not my cup of tea but I understand it's in the sweet spot of tech."