Archives for May 14, 2019

Stocks to Watch: Forum Merger II Corporation (FMCIU) and Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc. (IDXG) in the spotlight

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The price of Forum Merger II Corporation (NASDAQ:FMCIU) went up by $0.04 now trading at $10.45. The last few days have been good for the stock, as its price has grew by 0.67% during the week. It has also performed better over the past three months, as it added around 3.67% while it has so far retreated around 0% during the course of a year. The stock of FMCIU recorded 3.26% uptrend from the beginning of this year till date. The 12-month potential price target for Forum Merger II Corporation is set at $0. This target means that the stock has an upside potential to increase by -100% from the current trading price.

2 institutions entered new Forum Merger II Corporation (NASDAQ:FMCIU) positions, 5 added to their existing positions in these shares, 16 lowered their positions, and 9 exited their positions entirely.

Forum Merger II Corporation (FMCIU) trade volume has increased by 361.43% as around 57,651 shares were sold when compared with its 50-day average volume of traded shares which is 12,494. At the moment, FMCIU is witnessing a uptrend, as it is trading 0.92% above its 20-day SMA, 1.84% above its 50-day SMA, and 2.94% above its 200-day SMA. The company runs an ROE of roughly 0%, with financial analysts predicting that their earnings per share growth will be around 0% per annum for the next five year. This will be compared to the 0% decrease witnessed over the past five years.

The first technical resistance point for Forum Merger II Corporation (NASDAQ:FMCIU) will likely come at $10.46, marking a 0.1% premium to the current level. The second resistance point is at $10.46, about 0.1% premium to its current market price. On the other hand, inability to breach the immediate hurdles can drag it down to $10.44, the lower end of the range. FMCIU’s 14-day MACD is 0.03 and this positive figure indicates an upward trading trend. The company’s 14-day RSI (relative strength index) score is 76.78, which shows that its stock has been overbought. The 20-day historical volatility for the stock stands at 3.24 percent, which is high when compared to that of the 50-day’s 2.96 percent.

The shares of Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXG) has decreased by -5.86%, and now trading at $0.71 on the Wall Street in the intra-day deal, with their shares traded now around 377,034. This is a rise of 70,068 shares over the average 306,966 shares that were traded daily over the last three months. The stock that is trading at $0.71 went higher by 5.97% from its 52-week low of $0.67 that it attained back on 2019-04-22. The stock recorded a 52-week high of $1.78 nearly 236 days ago on 2018-09-20.

IDXG stock hasn’t performed well over the past 30 days, as it lost -3.38% while its price plunged by -10.63% year-to-date (YTD). Looking at the last few days, it has been tough for the stock, as it tumbled -5.44% over the last week. The stock’s 12-month potential target price is now at $3.84. This means that the stock price might likely increase by 440.85% from its current trading price. 6 out of 6 Wall Street analysts which represents 100% rated the stock as a buy while the remaining 0% rated it as a hold, with 0% of analysts rating it as a sell.

Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXG) has been utilizing an ROE that is roughly -33.1%, with stock analysts predicting that the company’s EPS for the next five years will go up by 15% per year, following the 16.5% raise that was witnessed during the past five years. The stock at the moment is on a downtrend, trading -2.13% below its 20-day SMA, -12.75% below its 50-day SMA, and -33.5% below its 200-day SMA. In percentage terms, the aggregate Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc. shares held by institutional investors is 14.4%. 3 institutions jumped in to acquire Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc. (IDXG) fresh stake, 7 added to their current holdings in these shares, 9 lowered their positions, and 4 left no stake in the company.

The stock’s 9-day MACD is -0.01 and this negative figure indicates a downward trading trend. The company’s 9-day RSI score is 40.32, which shows that its stock has been neutral. The 20-day historical volatility for the shares stand at 37.58 percent, which is less when compared to that of the 50-day’s 45.1 percent. On the daily chart, we see that the stock could reach the first level of resistance at $0.76, sporting a 6.58% premium to the current level. The next resistance point is at $0.8, representing nearly 11.25% premium to the current market price of Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc. (IDXG). On the other hand, failure to breach the immediate hurdles can drag it down to $0.66, the lower end of the range.

Stocks to Watch: Eyes on Idacorp, Inc. (IDA), Dreyfus Municipal Income, Inc. (DMF)

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The price of IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) went up by $1.88 now trading at $103.52. Their shares witnessed a 21.46% increase from the 52-week low price of $85.23 they recorded on 2018-06-12. Even though it is still -0.24% behind the $103.77 high touched on 2019-05-13. The last few days have been good for the stock, as its price has grew by 3.19% during the week. It has also performed better over the past three months, as it added around 5.22% while it has so far climbed around 13.21% during the course of a year. The stock of IDA recorded 11.24% uptrend from the beginning of this year till date. The 12-month potential price target for IDACORP, Inc. is set at $95. This target means that the stock has an upside potential to increase by -8.23% from the current trading price.

56 institutions entered new IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) positions, 166 added to their existing positions in these shares, 133 lowered their positions, and 29 exited their positions entirely.

IDACORP, Inc. (IDA) trade volume has increased by 39.51% as around 340,042 shares were sold when compared with its 50-day average volume of traded shares which is 243,740. At the moment, IDA is witnessing a uptrend, as it is trading 4.98% above its 20-day SMA, 4.54% above its 50-day SMA, and 6.1% above its 200-day SMA. The company runs an ROE of roughly 9.9%, with financial analysts predicting that their earnings per share growth will be around 2.4% per annum for the next five year. This will be compared to the 3.8% increase witnessed over the past five years.

The first technical resistance point for IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) will likely come at $104.43, marking a 0.87% premium to the current level. The second resistance point is at $105.35, about 1.74% premium to its current market price. On the other hand, inability to breach the immediate hurdles can drag it down to $100.37, the lower end of the range. IDA’s 14-day MACD is 2.37 and this positive figure indicates an upward trading trend. The company’s 14-day RSI (relative strength index) score is 71.05, which shows that its stock has been overbought. The 20-day historical volatility for the stock stands at 13.88 percent, which is high when compared to that of the 50-day’s 13.6 percent.

The shares of Dreyfus Municipal Income, Inc. (NYSE:DMF) has increased by 0.12%, and now trading at $8.44 on the Wall Street in the intra-day deal, with their shares traded now around 68,026. This is a decline of -1,266 shares over the average 69,292 shares that were traded daily over the last three months. The stock that is trading at $8.44 went higher by 12.99% from its 52-week low of $7.47 that it attained back on 2018-10-11. The stock recorded a 52-week high of $8.48 nearly 43 days ago on 2019-04-01.

DMF stock has performed well over the past 30 days, as it added 0.6% while its price climbed by 10.76% year-to-date (YTD). Looking at the last few days, it has been good for the stock, as it rose 0.48% over the last week. The stock’s 12-month potential target price is now at $0.

Dreyfus Municipal Income, Inc. (NYSE:DMF) has been utilizing an ROE that is roughly 0%, with stock analysts predicting that the company’s EPS for the next five years will go down by 0% per year, following the 0% drop that was witnessed during the past five years. The stock at the moment is on a uptrend, trading 1.04% above its 20-day SMA, 1.43% above its 50-day SMA, and 5.96% above its 200-day SMA. In percentage terms, the aggregate Dreyfus Municipal Income, Inc. shares held by institutional investors is 27.29%. 9 institutions jumped in to acquire Dreyfus Municipal Income, Inc. (DMF) fresh stake, 31 added to their current holdings in these shares, 13 lowered their positions, and 7 left no stake in the company.

The stock’s 9-day MACD is 0.03 and this positive figure indicates an upward trading trend. The company’s 9-day RSI score is 68.84, which shows that its stock has been neutral. The 20-day historical volatility for the shares stand at 5.86 percent, which is less when compared to that of the 50-day’s 6.88 percent. On the daily chart, we see that the stock could reach the first level of resistance at $8.47, sporting a 0.35% premium to the current level. The next resistance point is at $8.51, representing nearly 0.82% premium to the current market price of Dreyfus Municipal Income, Inc. (DMF). On the other hand, failure to breach the immediate hurdles can drag it down to $8.33, the lower end of the range.

Higher CPP costs hitting

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It may not happen this year, or next year, or even the year after that.

But sometime between now and 2025, Canadian employers will almost certainly need to re-think their retirement policies in response to Canada Pension Plan expenses that began to go up in January.

Canadian pension experts say higher mandatory contributions to the CPP and the Quebec Pension Plan, will inevitably ripple through human resource budgets over the next six or seven years.

“When a corporation designs a pension plan . . . they take into account government pensions,” says Faisal Siddiqi of EY Canada, where he’s associate partner, people advisory services.

“I would think every plan sponsor would be looking at this.”

Under the enhanced Canada Pension Plan authorized by Ottawa and the provinces, expenses go up in two ways.

One way involves a series of higher contribution rates from 2019 to 2023 and the other will involve a higher ceiling on how much annual income is subject to contributions in 2024 and 2025.

By 2023, the employer’s contribution rate will be 5.95 per cent of an employee’s pensionable earnings, up from 4.95 per cent in 2018 and prior years. In 2024 and 2025, the ceiling on maximum pensionable earnings will be raised.

Siddiqi predicts that every plan sponsor will have to look at these costs.

“Then they have to make a decision . . . to fully offset, partially offset or not offset these changes.”

However, he and other pension experts say that only a few early adopters have begun that process.

Andrew Hamilton, who leads the Ontario retirement practice for Aon, a consulting firm, says there’s anecdotal evidence that organizations are beginning to consider the impact of the CPP enhancements.

“But very few, if any, have actually made any design or structural changes to their programs to reflect the changes.”

That’s because the additional CPP cost faced by employers in 2019 is very modest and each year’s incremental costs will also be relatively small until all the increases are implemented in 2025.

“I think some organizations look at that and there probably isn’t a sense of urgency to do something now,” Hamilton says.

“But they may feel differently when we’re closer to being fully implemented and they’re feeling the full impact of the increase in costs.”

Jean-Philippe Provost, senior partner at Mercer Canada’s wealth business, notes the employer portion of contributions will be a full percentage point higher in 2023 than in 2018 before the increases began.

“If you’re working in an industry that has very, very low margins, a per cent can make a big difference — especially if people costs (are) the lion’s share of your expenses.”

Moving U.S. border agents from Canadian to Mexican border prompts fears of long delays

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The movement of 731 border agents from the northern to the southern U.S. border has prompted fears of long delays at Canadian borders.

731 U.S. border agents have been moved from north to south in recent months

Hundreds of border agents from across the U.S. are being temporarily transferred south ahead of the busy summer tourism season, worrying those along the northern border who rely on cross-border commerce — including U.S. innkeepers, shop owners and restaurateurs who fear their Canadian customers could be caught in backups at border crossings.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says 731 northern border agents from land, sea and airports are in the process of being sent to the U.S.-Mexico border, where they will help their southern counterparts handle the influx of families and unaccompanied children from Central America.

The move comes as businesses gear up for the summer season, when tens of thousands of Canadian tourists help buoy the economies of communities in border states, as well as deeper inside the United States. Since U.S.-Canada border security was ramped up shortly after the 9/11 attacks, local and state officials have worried that heightened security could hurt trade and the free flow of people back and forth across the 8,891-kilometre border.

400,000 people a day

Garry Douglas of the North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh, N.Y., said commerce with Canada is the “single greatest driving force” in the regional economy, and it took years to get adequate staffing levels at the northern border, where around 400,000 people and $1.6 billion US in goods cross daily.

In an email, he said he hadn’t seen any problems yet, but cautioned that peak travel season doesn’t begin until Canada’s Victoria Day holiday weekend May 18-20.

Last week, 13 bipartisan members of Congress from six northern border states wrote acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, expressing concerns the plans could hurt cross-border travel and commerce.

“The decision to deploy northern border CBP [Customs and Border Protection] officers to the southern border makes it increasingly more difficult for the agency to meet their core mission requirements at the border, which include effectively securing U.S. points of entry and safeguarding and streamlining lawful trade and travel,” said the May 3 letter, which was released Wednesday.

The letter was signed by four members of Congress from New York, four from Michigan, two from New Hampshire, and one each from Minnesota, Washington and North Dakota. On Thursday, Vermont’s Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter Welch sent an identical letter to McAleenan.

“Tourism is central to our economy in the Granite State, and I have serious concerns about any disruption in the efficiency of operations at the Canadian border,” New Hampshire Democrat Annie Kuster said in an email interview.

“Moving Customs and Border Protection personnel away from our northern border has the potential to impact U.S.-Canadian commerce and tourism just as we enter the busy summer months. I will work with my colleagues whose states and districts share a border with Canada to address this serious issue.”

Senators Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine said they understand the need for additional resources at the southern border, but in a joint statement, they said they’re monitoring to “ensure that the northern border remains safe and secure, and that crossings that facilitate jobs and vital economic activity are not negatively affected in Maine.” Collins is a Republican and King is an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

While CBP wouldn’t specify where the agents are coming from, they are being drawn from 328 ports of entry.

Vermont CBP port director Gregory Starr, speaking Wednesday after the ribbon-cutting for a new port of entry at Derby Line at the Vermont-Quebec border, said some of his agents were heading south. He said those staying in Vermont would do their best to avoid backups.

“It’s an issue that we have to deal with,” Starr said. “We’re going to help out as much as we can and try to maintain our presence here, as well.”

In Maine, the town of Old Orchard Beach relies heavily on Canadian tourists. Some hotels and motels fly both the U.S. and Canadian flags out front.

Marc Bourassa, one of the owners of the waterfront Kebek 3 motel, said 90 per cent of his customers are Canadian, so he’s concerned about delays at the border. For the past couple of years, Canadian guests have reported to him that things have been running smoothly at the crossings. He doesn’t want to see the apple cart being upset.

“It doesn’t make sense to me that they they’d do something like that,” Bourassa said. “But there are lots of things that don’t make sense to me. I guess that’s life.”

Stock markets tumble

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North American stock markets fell in late-morning trading as the trade war between the U.S. and China escalated.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 161.00 points at 16,136.55.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 606.41 points at 25,335.96. The S&P 500 index was down 68.81 points at 2,812.59, while the Nasdaq composite was down 252.15 points at 7,664.79.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.33 cents US compared with an average of 74.53 cents US on Friday.

The June crude contract was up 35 cents at US$62.01 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was up 0.7 cents at US$2.63 per mmBTU.

The June gold contract was up US$11.00 at US$1,298.40 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 6.05 cents at US$2.71 a pound.

The dark reason so many millennials are miserable and broke

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You’re not going to like this.

Millennials spend more time on social media than older generations: People ages 25-34 spend 141 minutes per day on it, versus 105 for the 35-44 set. And that could be hurting both their finances and mental health.

Indeed, nearly half of millennials (49%) say that their spending habits have been influenced by the photos and experiences their friends share on social media, compared with only about one-third of Americans in general, according to a data survey of more than 1,000 Americans by financial firm Charles Schwab.

Other surveys have uncovered similar trends: Roughly two in three millennials think that social media has a negative impact on their financial well-being, according to a 2018 survey of more than 2,000 millennials from financial firm Fidelity. Data released in 2018 by mobile bank firm Varo Money found that 53% of millennials admit to buying something they saw advertised on social media. And a 2018 survey from Allianz Life shows that more than half of millennials (57%, versus just 28% of Gen Xers and 7% of boomers) say they’ve spent money they hadn’t planned to because of something they saw on social media.

This is partly because millennials say they feel pressure to keep up with their friends’ spending — and of those, nearly half say that social media posts of friends’ vacations and lifestyles contribute to that pressure, according to 2017 data from TD Ameritrade. Social media also makes 61% of millennials (versus just 35% of Gen Xers and 12% of boomers) feel inadequate about their own life and what they have, with 88% comparing themselves to others on social media (compared to just 71% of Gen Xers and 54% of boomers who say the same), according to the Allianz data. And the Varo data found that three-quarters of millennials feel social media portrays an unrealistically positive view of people’s lives — and as a result 41% have made a purchase to feel better about their own lives.

“Social media has become the millennials’ financial Achilles Heel,” the Allianz survey, which questioned more than 3,000 adults ages 20-70, concluded. Adds Paul Kelash, vice president of Consumer Insights for Allianz Life: “More than any other generation, social media and the allure to spend beyond their means could have long-term negative effects on [millennials’] finances if they’re not careful.”

This likely exacerbates the already tough financial spot many millenials are in: “Millennials (ages 18 to 34) are more likely than other generations to have nothing saved,” according to a 2017 survey from GoBankingRates.com — with nearly half of young millennials (18-24) having $0 in savings. And most haven’t saved appropriately for retirement either.

Not only can social media wreak havoc on our finances, it can also hurt our mental health. Younger adults who use social media a lot are at a higher risk of depression, and people who use many different social media sites are at higher risk for anxiety and depression. What’s more, the more time people spend on social media, the more likely it is they feel socially isolated — with people who spend more than two hours swiping through social media sites nearly doubling their risk of feeling socially isolated.

Of course, social media can have plenty of positive impacts on our lives too, helping us stay connected to friends we might otherwise lose touch with and learn new things. Plus, some use it to keep themselves financially accountable, boasting about how much money they’ve saved, for example.