Around the News from USA

There are two beautifully simple explanations for why U.S. stocks are valued so much higher than equities in the rest of the developed world. First, the U.S. economy is doing much better than troubled Europe, aging Japan or Brexit-stricken Britain. Second, the U.S. market includes the FANGs of Facebook, Amazon.com, Netflix and Google, now Alphabet, while the rest of the developed world has few big companies with high growth potential. The question investors often ask is whether the valuation gap is so big they should prepare... Source link

Photo: lucas jackson/Reuters Updated Sept. 24, 2019 8:28 am ET Here are some of the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Tuesday’s session. Stock movements noted by ticker reflect movements during regular trading hours; premarket trading is specified separately. American Express —Flat premarket: The company authorized the repurchase of up to 120 million shares and announced a 10% dividend increase. Netflix —Down 0.2% premarket: Shares of the company fell 1.8% Monday, putting the streaming giant’s stock into the red on a year-to-date basis for the first time since November 2016, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Overstock.com —Up 3% premarket: Shares of the online surplus-goods retailer lost a quarter of their value Monday, after the company announced the departure of another key executive and cut earnings guidance. BlackBerry…

Google is launching a subscription-based mobile game service, similar to a new offering by Apple. Photo: dado ruvic/Reuters Sept. 24, 2019 7:00 am ET In tech, no good idea goes uncopied. Sometimes even before it is clear if the idea was actually good. Google, owned by Alphabet, is launching a subscription-based mobile game service this week. Known as Play Pass, the service allows users of Android devices to play games and access other apps free of advertising and in-app transactions for about $5 a month. It comes just days after Apple formally launched Arcade—a similar service at the same price. Arcade was previewed by Apple earlier this year as part of the company’s expanded slate of entertainment offerings. Google and Apple together own the operating systems that power nearly every…

There is an opportunity for biotech-style rewards hiding in an unexpected place: big pharma. Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY -0.10% and Celgene CELG 0.05% are set to close their $74 billion merger before the end of the year. In the meantime, not much is happening to their stock prices: Bristol-Myers shares have rallied 3% over the past three months, while Celgene shares are flat. There is still plenty of investor excitement to be had with the deal, however. As part of the buyout consideration, the holder of each Celgene share will receive a tradable security known as a contingent value right, or CVR, when the deal closes. Each CVR entitles the holder to a $9 payment if Celgene can win timely Food and Drug Administration approval for three late-stage drug candidates. Specifically,…

Global stocks posted gentle rises Tuesday, as central bankers around the world diverged over how best to address a clouded economic outlook. The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed by 0.2% in morning trade, following a session of similar gains in Asia. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2% and Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.1%. “It’s a relatively small move, and what we’ve seen in recent days has been relatively thin, lacking conviction,” said Larry Hatheway, group head of investment solutions and chief economist at GAM investment. “Market participants are facing a conflicted news environment. The markets are really treading water.” Europe’s poor manufacturing and services data on Monday “cast a long shadow” on hopes that the European Central Bank’s latest stimulus package would “reflate” economic expectations, said…