All posts by James Cannon

About James Cannon

James Cannon is an experienced hedge fund analyst. He has served on the advisory boards for various different Fortune 500 companies as well as serving as an adjunct professor of finance. James Cannon has written for a variety of Financial Magazines both on and off line. Contact James at james[at]businessdistrict.com

Trump Meeting with British Business Leaders in London

News, , , , , ,
Marillyn Hewson, President/CEO of Lockheed Martin. Photo courtesy of NASA


President Donald Trump is meeting with 10 English business leaders for breakfast this week to discuss issues relevant but not exclusive to, defense, banking and pharmaceuticals. Among the key execs invited are Sir Roger Carr, chairman of BAE Systems; John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid; and Emma Walmsley of GSK and Barclay’s Jes Staley.


The working breakfast will last about one hour and will take place at St. James’s Palace in Central London. British Prime Minister Theresa May is co-hosting the event with Trump.


The focus of the meeting will be the crucial nature of cooperation and collaboration between English and American companies. In attendance will also be important members of the US business community, including head of Lockheed Martin, Marillyn Hewson; Estée Lauder UK and Ireland chief executive, Philippe Warnery. Fidelity Investments CEO, Abigail Johnson, is also on the list of invitees.

Michael Antonov

Dedication of New Facility for the University of Maryland: Michael Antonov Speech

Education,

We all understand that the future will focus on technology. Whether this means finding better avenues for cybersecurity, researching computational biology or discovering new ways to use virtual and augmented reality, the future is in these fields. The University of Maryland certainly understands that and has recently opened a new center called The Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering.

The opening ceremony took place on April 27, 2019 and included Larry Hogan, the Governor of Maryland;  Mike Miller, the President of Maryland State Senate; Brendan Iribe, Co-Founder of Oculus; Michael Antonov, UMD Alumnus and Co-Founder of Oculus and many others.

The Iribe Center brings together the Department of Computer Science and the Institute for Advanced Computer Sciences under one umbrella with a six-floor building of labs, classrooms, auditoriums, offices and more. It allows students and faculty to expand their research and education in fields that include robotics, computer vision, machine learning, data science, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

The facility was made possible with the generosity of a few key donors including Oculus Co-Founders Brendan Iribe and Michael Antonov. In this video, Michael Antonov shares his heartfelt excitement about the new center and the vision he has for its future use and application.

Certainly, this new center paves the way for the future of technology and allows those in the field to expand their research capabilities and to lead us into the technology-based future that awaits us.

Jobless Rate Lowest in Almost 50 Years

Economy, ,

The United States has not seen a lower jobless rate than what it is experiencing now since December 1969, according to the US Department of Labor. The rate fell in April from 3.8% in March down to 3.6%.


There is a caveat, the drastic reduction was fueled to a great extent by the number of people who left the labor force in April; almost half a million.


US Labor Department data showed that the economy added an above-expected 236,000 jobs to the market. In addition, average earnings rose by a yearly rate of 3.2%.


Experts said that the numbers show that the economy is still doing well, but not so well that the US Federal Reserve might consider changing interest rates.


The job gains were in the following sectors:


• Construction: Increased by 33,000 jobs
• Healthcare: Increased by 27,000 jobs
• Social assistance: Increased by 26,000
• Financial activities: Increased by 12,000

The number that did not change by much is how many people are working part-time who would prefer to work full-time, but there hours were reduced, or they could not find full-time employment. That number stayed at 4.7 million people.

Three Relatively Unknown Companies Entering US Market

News, ,

Two Canadian companies and one from Israel are on the verge of entering the large and lucrative US market, hoping to cash in.


Pembina
Pembina Pipeline is a NYSE listed company (PBA), is an energy infrastructure company relatively unknown to most US investors. The coming months will change their profile in the US, as they are aiming to make a positive final investment decision to purchase Jordan Cove liquid natural gas (LNG) export facility along the coast of Oregon, for $10 billion.
Pembina received conditional approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) if it adheres to strict rules about reducing its environmental impact.


Canada Goose
Canada Goose manufactures high-end winter clothing, and is already a popular brand in the US, but its direct retail presence in the lower 50 is minuscule. With only 4 stores in the US (and only 11 worldwide) the company is poised to make an impact on the US retail market.
The company is planning on opening its 5th store in the US at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, the location picked because it is a key tourist destination. The store will even feature a “cold room” where customers can try the coats on in the environment they were meant to be worn in.


UroGen Pharma
Israeli-based UroGen Pharma (NASDAQ-URGN) plummeted 34% over the past 12 months, and 10% since the beginning of 2019, but investors should think of the price decline as a bargain and opportunity, and not necessarily a warning.
The company develops drugs to treat rare cancers of the urinary tract. UGN-101 is the company’s leading candidate for approval in the US, as it has built a good reputation leading up to approval by US regulators later in 2019.
Analysts say the drug should reach peak yearly sales of over $500 million. This might not seem like much compared to top selling pharmaceuticals that can make as much as $1 billion, but the company today is valued at only $800 million. Bottom line, most investors are in the dark about UroGen Pharma, but we expect that to change before 2019 ends.

SEC Allows Exxon to Block Shareholders from Demanding Climate Goal Transparency

Environment,
Exxon Building in NY. Courtesy of Wikipedia

The SEC has decided that Exxon does not have to allow its shareholders to vote on a company proposal to make public its goals for lowering CO2 emissions. This move is in reaction to a push by activist investors and led by the New York state comptroller to have Exxon set annual targets which will reach the goals prescribed by the international Paris climate agreement of 2015.


In January Exxon requested the SEC disallow a vote on the proposal to disclose such climate-oriented goals. The SEC answered this week, stating that it would not recommend the SEC to take any enforcement action against Exxon if the company decides to keep the proposal out of May’s annual shareholder meeting.


Activists say they want to vote on the issue to compel Exxon to be more responsible and accountable about climate change.


A lawyer for the SEC said the oversite agency decided in Exxon’s favor because the proposal would “micromanage” the company and harm the value and supplant the judgement of Exxon managers and directors.