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Friday, August 2, 2024

Nasdaq 100 Is in Correction Territory With AI Darlings Sinking

 

  • Amazon leads stocks lower as traders turn skittish on AI bets
  • Prospect of rate cuts should boost demand for riskier stocks

The violent rotation from Big Tech plunged the Nasdaq 100 Index into correction territory, wiping out more than $2 trillion in value in just over three weeks, as traders unwound bets that had been minting money for over a year.

The index was down 2.2% in midday trading on Friday, taking its loss since hitting a record on July 10 past 10%. If that holds through end of the session, it will meet the definition of correction. The index remains up nearly 10% for the year.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-02/nasdaq-100-is-in-correction-territory-with-ai-darlings-sinking

Unburdened By Vocabulary: Harris Dishes Fresh Word Salad During Prisoner Swap

 Ever since Democrats coup'd Joe Biden into stepping aside, they've done their best to shield frontrunner Kamala Harris from opening her mouth (a difficult ask), lest she remind everyone that she's actually an idiot whose vocabulary relies on a very limited random word generator.

Point in case - Harris was caught on camera in the wild - where she gave an unscripted answer while she and President Joe Biden greeted three American citizens and one permanent resident who arrived home after a prisoner exchange with Russia on Thursday.

"This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy," said Harris, using so many words to say so little.


Thursday's exchange of 24 prisoners was the largest such swap since the Cold War, and included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan and 14 other individuals who were being held in Russia, in exchange for 8 held by the west - including a Russian assassin and two hackers being held in the US, Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Poland.

The plane carrying the formerly detained Americans landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland at around 8PM local time.

The plane carrying the Americans from their Russian imprisonment landed late Thursday, after taking off from Ankara, Turkey around 8:00 pm local time

Whelan, a 54-year-old ex Marine, was sentenced to 16 years in 2020 after being detained two years earlier on suspicion of spying. Both were freed Thursday as part of the East-West prisoner swap - the largest since the Cold War.

After being freed from their Russian cells, the former prisoners took a four-hour flight from Moscow to Ankara. They then boarded a plane for a 10-hour trek back to the US.

She was seen running into the arms of her family Thursday, after embracing both Kamal Harris and Joe Biden upon exiting the plane.

But it was Whelan who disembarked first, followed by Gershkovich, and then Kurmasheva. All three were seen giving Harris and Biden handshakes before blissfully running into the arms of their respective families.

...

The prisoners were seen speaking with the president and vice president on the landing strip as onlookers cheered, in a display that, instead of occurring in private, was aired for the world to see.  -Daily Mail

On Friday, former President Trump said that the swap marked a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said he would have cut a better deal if he was in the White House.

"Well, as usual, it was a win for Putin…But we got somebody back. So, I'm never going to be challenging that. It wouldn't have happened with us," Trump told Fox Business. "We wouldn't have had to let some of the great killers of the world go."

Tandem Ups Full Year 2024 Sales Guidance

 Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. (Nasdaq: TNDM), a global insulin delivery and diabetes technology company, today reported its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 and increased sales guidance for the year ending December 31, 2024.

Second Quarter 2024 Highlights

  • Worldwide GAAP sales increased 13 percent to $221.9 million compared to second quarter 2023; worldwide non-GAAP sales(1) increased 12 percent to $221.8 million compared to second quarter 2023.
  • More than 20,000 pumps shipped in the United States, a sequential increase of 33 percent compared to first quarter 2024.
  • Launched Tandem Mobi with Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor integration in the United States.
  • Completed enrollment for Control-IQ pivotal study to support an expanded indication for Control-IQ to people living with type 2 diabetes.
  • Began the launch of Tandem Source outside the United States.

“Our financial outperformance in the second quarter was bolstered by strong demand for our latest technology offerings, namely Tandem Mobi, which drove our expansion of the insulin pump market,” said John Sheridan, president and chief executive officer. “The early enthusiasm for our expanding portfolio supports our strategy to offer our customers choice as we work to bring the benefits of our technology to more people living with diabetes worldwide.”

The Company will hold a conference call and simultaneous webcast today at 4:30pm Eastern Time (1:30pm Pacific Time). The link to the webcast will be available by accessing the Events & Presentations tab in the Investor Center of the Tandem Diabetes Care website at http://investor.tandemdiabetes.com, and will be archived for 30 days. To access the call by phone, please use this link (https://register.vevent.com/register/BIc1efe0f41c4149d2ae27551b0212f1cf) and you will be provided with dial-in details, including a personal pin.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801786831/en/

July jobs report: US labor market adds 114,000 jobs, unemployment rate jumps to 4.3%

 The US economy added fewer jobs than expected in July, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4.3%, furthering signs of a slowdown in the labor market.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed the labor market added 114,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July, fewer additions than the 175,000 expected by economists.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rose to 4.3%, up from 4.1% June. July's job additions came in lower than the 179,000 jobs added in June.

Wage growth, an important measure for gauging inflation pressures, slowed to 3.6% year-over-year, down from 3.9% in June. On a monthly basis, wages increased 0.2%, lower than 0.3% gain seen in June.

Also in Friday’s report, the labor force participation rate 62.7% from 62.6% the month prior.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/july-jobs-report-us-labor-market-adds-114000-jobs-unemployment-rate-jumps-to-43-190219898.html

Fulgent ups EPS guidance

 

  • Total Revenue of $71.0 million
  • Core Revenue grows 5% year-over-year to $70.2 million
  • Reiterates Full Year 2024 Core Revenue Guidance of $280 million, Improves Earnings Per Share Guidance for 2024

AdaptImmune Accelerated Approval of First Approved Engineered Cell Therapy for Solid Tumor

 Approved for advanced MAGE-A4+synovial sarcoma in adults with certain HLA types who have received prior chemotherapy

TECELRA is the first new treatment option for people with synovial sarcoma in more than a decade

Adaptimmune to hold webcast at https://www.gowebcasting.com/13428 on August 2, at 8:00 a.m. EDT

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801538240/en

New York City Shutters Hundreds Of Illegal Marijuana Shops

  by Jana J. Pruet via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Thousands of unlicensed marijuana shops opened in New York City after the state legalized recreational use of the drug in 2021. New state regulations are allowing officials to crack down.

The city sheriff’s office said it has closed about 700 illegal stores since the new rules were enacted in April. The unsanctioned shops proliferated across the Big Apple when the city’s legal power had been limited and the legal market was mired in red tape.

There were nearly 3,000 unlicensed marijuana shops throughout New York City and about 60 licensed dispensaries, the sheriff’s office estimated.

Licensed operators say the city is bringing order to the cannabis industry. 

Sasha Nutgent, retail director of Manhattan’s Housing Works Cannabis Co., which made the state’s first legal marijuana sale in December 2022, said enforcement had been “kind of a joke, and now it’s not.”

Although New York state legalized marijuana three years ago, regulations did not give local law enforcers much power to punish unlicensed distributors. That duty was assigned to the state Office of Cannabis Management. 

Strict licensing requirements combined with bureaucratic delays and lawsuits slowed the opening of legal dispensaries. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul described the rollout as a “disaster.”

New York now has about 150 dispensaries statewide compared to approximately 1,200 in California, which also has struggled to shut down illegal shops.

New York City and state officials have promised tough enforcement in the past. Last year, lawmakers expanded the state’s powers for inspections, seizures, and fines, which led to some store closures. Manhattan’s district attorney sent hundreds of sternly-worded letters to landlords.

Still, many stores remained open during lengthy appeals despite the threat of eviction or fines.

The new state rules have allowed local authorities to padlock stores while administrative hearings play out. The sheriff’s office no longer requires a court order to inspect businesses. This allows it to raid illegal retail stores and seize products quickly.

A lawsuit filed in federal court by two dozen shuttered stores argues that the city is denying them due process. The law firm representing the stores declined to comment.

The sheriff’s office says it has issued more than $57 million in violations since April, but it’s not clear how much has been collected. The office declined to comment, referring questions to City Hall, which said 15 teams of deputies and New York Police Department officers are being sent out daily.

If you are operating an illegal cannabis business, our administration is sending a clear message: You will be shut down,” the office of Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

City Council Member Gale Brewer, who tried for two years to shut down an unlicensed marijuana shop across the street from her office on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, says the latest effort is finally helping.

“There’s no question about it,” she said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-york-city-shutters-hundreds-illegal-marijuana-shops