US, allies try to craft Gaza endgame

 As Israeli forces intensify their assault against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, diplomats in Washington, the United Nations, the Middle East and beyond have started weighing the options for the "day after" if the Palestinian militant group is ousted - and the challenges they see ahead are daunting.

Discussions include the deployment of a multinational force to post-conflict Gaza, an interim Palestinian-led administration that would exclude Hamas politicians, a stopgap security and governance role for neighboring Arab states and temporary U.N. supervision of the territory, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The process is still at what another U.S. source terms an informal "idea-floating stage." Key questions include whether Israel can destroy Hamas as it has vowed and whether the U.S., its Western allies and Arab governments would commit military personnel to stand between Israel and the Palestinians, overcoming a long reluctance to do so.

The White House said on Wednesday there were "no plans or intentions" to put U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza.

As the debate gains momentum, Gaza health authorities say more than 9,000 people have been killed in the 25-mile-long strip of land, home to 2.3 million Palestinians. More than half of Gaza's population is already displaced, crammed hospitals lacking electricity and medicine are turning away the injured and gravediggers are running out of cemetery places.

It is also unclear whether the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank while Hamas rules Gaza, would be able or willing to take control. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday held out the prospects for a "revitalized" PA, but President Mahmoud Abbas' administration has been plagued by accusations of corruption and mismanagement.

Any entity that seeks to exert authority in post-war Gaza would also have to contend with the impression among Palestinians that it is beholden to Israel. Its offensive against Hamas has been mounted in retaliation for a devastating Oct. 7 rampage in which militants killed 1,400 people in southern Israel and took more than 200 hostages.

https://news.yahoo.com/analysis-us-allies-try-craft-050315148.html

Traders bet ECB will be first big central bank to cut rates

 Financial markets are ramping up expectations for interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank, betting it will be the first major central bank to ease policy to buffer a euro zone economy facing recession in contrast to a robust United States.

Last week money market traders anticipated that the ECB, U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England (BoE) would all start easing monetary policy in the second half of 2024 as inflation eases and recent interest rate hikes slow economic growth.

Yet that changed after data on Tuesday showed euro zone inflation dropped more than expected to its lowest in over two years in October, while the economy shrank during the third quarter, raising the risk of a year-end recession.

With investors confident that big central banks are likely done raising rates, focus has switched to when rate cuts will start.

Traders now price in over an 80% chance of a 25 basis-points (bps) ECB cut by April, which had been fully priced for July last week.

They also expect an additional cut next year, now pricing in more than a 50% chance of four, 25 bps cuts by end-2024 that would lower the key deposit rate to 3%.

"The European economy clearly is weakening and weakening quite sharply," said BNY Mellon Investment Management's chief economist Shamik Dhar.

"There are more reasons to believe rates have peaked in Europe than in the U.S. and the UK," he added. "That's the view markets are coming to as well."

In Britain, where the BoE held rates steady on Thursday and ruled out rate cuts any time soon, traders have also ratcheted up bets for easing.

They now expect two cuts in 2024. But facing more stubborn inflation, the BoE is expected to move slower than peers.

US RESILIENCE

In contrast to the euro zone, the U.S. economy continues to defy recession warnings, growing almost 5% in the third quarter.

Bets on Fed cuts have also risen with traders on Friday pricing in a high chance of four rate cuts next year, likely starting in May, following weaker-than-expected jobs data. But they still see at least one less cut than they expected in late July.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/analysis-traders-bet-ecb-first-121143646.html

BioCryst, Clearside to Develop Avoralstat for Diabetic Macular Edema

  SCS Microinjector is the first and only FDA-approved approach to access the suprachoroidal space –

– BioCryst to host R&D Day today at 1:00 pm ET –

BioCryst will host a Research and Development (R&D) Day at 1:00 pm ET today at its Discovery Center of Excellence in Birmingham, AL. At the R&D Day, BioCryst plans to describe its drug discovery process and introduce additional therapies from its pipeline. The live webcast and replay of the R&D Day will be available online in the investors section of the BioCryst website at www.biocryst.com.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/11/03/2773333/29446/en/BioCryst-and-Clearside-Biomedical-Enter-Partnership-to-Develop-Avoralstat-for-Diabetic-Macular-Edema-Using-Clearside-s-Proprietary-SCS-Microinjector.html

Bank of America warns of banking industry deposit delays

 Bank of America alerted customers on Friday that their deposits may be delayed due to a problem impacting multiple banks.

Customers at Bank of America, Chase, US Bank, Truist and Wells Fargo have complained of issues on Friday morning, according to Downdetector.

A Chase spokesperson confirmed to CNN that some direct deposits haven’t updated.

“We know some direct deposits haven’t updated because a payroll company has not sent them to us yet,” the spokesperson said. “We will post them as soon as we can but we don’t know the timing yet.”

An industry source tells CNN that the issue appears to be related to the Automated Clearing House (ACH), which is a network for processing transactions. The source said the problem does not appear to be a bank-specific issue.

In a message to customers on Friday, Bank of America said “some deposits may be temporarily delayed.”

The message said the deposits from Friday may be delayed due to an “issue impacting multiple financial institutions.”

“Your accounts remain secure, and your balance will be updated as soon as the deposit is received,” the Bank of America message read. “You do not need to take any action.”

Neither the Federal Reserve nor the US Treasury Department were immediately available to comment.

None of the banks provided a comment.

The ACH system is at the foundation of the American banking system, enabling banks to send electronic credit and debit payments. Businesses use the ACH system to directly deposit paychecks of their employees and customers use it to directly pay mortgages and utility bills.

The ACH is operated by the Federal Reserve Banks and the Electronic Payment Network.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/03/investing/bank-deposit-outage/index.html

Privia Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results; New Market Entry in SC

 Privia Health updated its full-year 2023 guidance, as follows:

	FY 2022				Initial FY 2023 Guidance at 2.28.23 a								Current FY 2023 Guidance 11.3.23
($ in millions)	Actual				Low				High
Implemented Providers		3,606				4,050				4,150			Above High End
Attributed Lives		856,000				1,050,000				1,150,000			Midpoint
Practice Collections	$	2,424.1			$	2,700			$	2,850			Midpoint
GAAP Revenue	$	1,356.7			$	1,550			$	1,650			Mid to High End
Care Margin	$	305.6			$	350			$	365			Mid to High End
Platform Contribution	$	148.5			$	160			$	168			Above High End
Adjusted EBITDAc	$	60.9			$	70			$	74			Mid to High End

• Practice Collections guidance includes impact of paused capitated agreement previously announced
• Adjusted EBITDA guidance includes approximately $10 million in start-up costs for new geographies and ACOs, and higher than initially forecasted sales and marketing costs due to record in-market sales
• Capital expenditures expected to be less than $1 million in full-year 2023
• Approximately 80-90% of Adjusted EBITDA expected to convert to free cash flow (defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures) in FY 2023

The Company will host a conference call on November 3, 2023, at 8:00 am ET to discuss these results and management’s outlook for future financial and operational performance. You can visit ir.priviahealth.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations to listen to the call via live webcast. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for on-demand listening shortly after the completion of the call under the same link. If you wish to participate in the live conference call, then please go to https://register.vevent.com/register/BI93f79e2535cf432ab5d86149b9f61609 to pre-register and obtain your dial-in number and passcode.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/11/03/2773048/0/en/Privia-Health-Reports-Third-Quarter-2023-Financial-Results-Announces-New-Market-Entry-in-South-Carolina.html

Fulgent Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results

 

• Core Revenue of $66 million represents Growth of 17% Year-over-Year
• Additional Reimbursement from COVID-19 Test Sales yields Revenue of $19 million, for Total Revenue of $85 million
• Reiterates Full Year 2023 Core Revenue Guidance of $260 million

Outlook

For the full year 2023, Fulgent expects:

• Core Revenue of approximately $260 million
• GAAP loss of approximately $2.15 per share
• Non-GAAP loss of $0.95 per share
• Cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable securities of approximately $830 million as of December 31, 2023*

*Cash expenditures may be higher or lower than currently estimated due to a variety of facts and circumstances, including as a result of the Company’s ongoing stock repurchase program or other expenditures outside of ordinary course.

Conference Call Information

Fulgent will host a conference call for the investment community today at 8:30 AM ET (5:30 AM PT) to discuss its third quarter 2023 results. The call may be accessed through a live audio webcast on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, http://ir.fulgentgenetics.com. An audio replay will be available at the same location.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231103381079/en/

Plus: Orphan Drug Designation to Rhenium Obisbemeda for Treatment of Breast Cancer

 Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PSTV) (the “Company”), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing targeted radiotherapeutics with advanced platform technologies for central nervous system cancers, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda for the treatment of breast cancer with leptomeningeal metastases (LM).

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/11/03/2773082/0/en/Plus-Therapeutics-Granted-U-S-FDA-Orphan-Drug-Designation-to-Rhenium-186Re-Obisbemeda-for-the-Treatment-of-Breast-Cancer-with-Leptomeningeal-Metastases.html