Walgreens shares slide as drugstore chain misses earnings estimates, lowers 2019 forecast - CNBC

Walgreens Boots Alliance reported quarterly earnings and revenue that missed analysts' expectations and lowered its forecast for 2019 in what CEO Stefano Pessina called the "most difficult" quarter since acquiring European drugstore chain Alliance Boots in late 2014.

The company now expects full-year earnings for 2019 to be roughly flat, compared with its previous forecast of 7 to 12 percent growth, it said Tuesday. The company also said it would cut more than $1.5 billion in costs, up from the $1 billion it announced last quarter.

"The market challenges and macro trends we have been discussing for some time accelerated, resulting in the most difficult quarter we have had since the formation of Walgreens Boots Alliance," Pessina said in a statement announcing its performance during the second quarter of fiscal 2019, which ended Feb. 28.

Walgreens' shares slid by about 7 percent in premarket trading.

Walgreens reported adjusted earnings of $1.64 per share during the quarter, missing analysts' estimates of $1.72 per share, according to data compiled by Refinitiv. Revenue also fell short, coming in at $34.53 billion. Analysts had been looking for $34.56 billion.

It generated $1.16 billion in net income, or $1.24 per share, down from $1.35 billion, or $1.36 per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Walgreens said it earned $1.64 per share, below the $1.72 per share analysts were expecting.

Executives from Walgreens and rival CVS Health have warned investors in recent months that profits might not be all that fat this year. The Trump administration has been pressuring drugmakers and pharmacy benefits managers to lower consumer prices, both of which may cut into the bottom line for drugstore chains.

Generic drug prices declined and pharmacy benefit managers paid Walgreens less, weighing on the pharmacy chain in the quarter, Pessina said. Walgreens also faced "consumer market challenges" in the U.S. and the U.K., he said.

"While we had begun initiatives to address these trends, our response was not rapid enough given market conditions, resulting in a disappointing quarter that did not meet our expectations," Pessina said.

Same-store sales declined 3.8 percent, which Walgreens said was primarily because of a weak cough, cold and flu season compared to last year.

Drugstores are trying to diversify their products and experiment with new ways to get people into their stores. Walgreens last week said it will sell CBD products in about 1,500 of its stores, following CVS.

Walgreens is working with LabCorp, Humana, Sprint and others on everything from offering senior care services to selling phones in their stores. CVS is changing up its business model after buying health insurer Aetna for $70 billion late last year.

Pessina on Tuesday said Walgreens will prioritize "expediting the execution" of its partnership initiatives, develop its health-focused stores and optimize its store footprint.

CORRECTION: This story was updated to correct the company's adjusted earnings estimate. It was $1.72 a share.

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2019-04-02 11:06:28Z
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Bitcoin soars 20 percent, mystery buyer seen as catalyst - Investing.com

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A placard of French startup Keplerk, for clients to purhcase bitcoins, is seen inside a tobacco shop at Rueil-Malmaison

By Tom Wilson and Tommy Wilkes

LONDON (Reuters) - burst to its highest level in almost five months on Tuesday, sending smaller cryptocurrencies up, with analysts ascribing the move to a major order by an anonymous buyer that triggered a frenzy of computer-driven trading.

The original and biggest cryptocurrency soared as much as 20 percent in Asian trading, surpassing $5,000 for the first time since mid-November. By late morning, it had settled at around $4,700, still up 15 percent in its biggest one-day gain since April last year.

Bitcoin surged to near $20,000 in late 2017, the peak of a bubble driven by retail investors that pushed cryptocurrencies onto the agenda of mainstream financial firms. But wide interest waned as prices collapsed, and now trading is mostly powered by smaller hedge funds, tech firms and wealthy individuals.

Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, chief executive of London-based cryptocurrency firm BCB Group, said the move was likely triggered by an algorithmic order worth about $100 million spread across major exchanges - U.S.-based Coinbase and Kraken, and Luxembourg-based Bitstamp.

"There has been a single order that has been algorithmically-managed across these three venues, of around 20,000 BTC," he said.

"If you look at the volumes on each of those three exchanges – there were in-concert, synchronized, units of volume of around 7,000 BTC in an hour".

For a graphic on Bitcoin price, see - https://tmsnrt.rs/2VadrPe

Analysts could not point to any specific news or developments in the cryptocurrency sector that could explain the mystery buyer's big order.

Outsized price moves of the kind rarely seen in traditional markets are common in cryptocurrency markets, where liquidity is thin and prices highly opaque.

So orders of large magnitude tend to spark buying by algorithmic traders, said Charlie Hayter, founder of industry website CryptoCompare.

As bitcoin surged, there were 6 million trades over an hour, Hayter said - three to four times the usual amount, with orders concentrated on Asian-based exchanges.

"You trigger other order books to play catch up, and that creates a buying frenzy."

Bitcoin's surge sent smaller cryptocurrencies, known as "altcoins," trading higher. Ethereum's ether and Ripple's , respectively the second- and third-largest coins, both jumped by more than 10 percent.

Price moves of smaller coins tend to be correlated to bitcoin, which still accounts for just over half of the value of the cryptocurrency market.

"Usually bitcoin is the leader of the market and altcoins tend to follow, as far as direction and sentiment is concerned," said Mati Greenspan, an analyst at eToro in Israel. "Today bitcoin is in the driving seat."

Cryptocurrency markets have been relatively calm so far this year, with bitcoin trading until today between around $3,300 and $4,200.

There have been few catalysts for big price moves of the kind seen last year. In 2018, fears of regulatory clampdowns and declining interest from retail investors saw bitcoin slump by about three-quarters.

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2019-04-02 10:59:00Z
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Bitcoin soars past $5000, mystery buyer seen as catalyst - Investing.com

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A placard of French startup Keplerk, for clients to purhcase bitcoins, is seen inside a tobacco shop at Rueil-Malmaison

By Tom Wilson and Tommy Wilkes

LONDON (Reuters) - burst to its highest level in almost five months on Tuesday, sending smaller cryptocurrencies up, with analysts ascribing the move to a major order by an anonymous buyer that triggered a frenzy of computer-driven trading.

The original and biggest cryptocurrency soared as much as 20 percent in Asian trading, surpassing $5,000 for the first time since mid-November. By mid-morning, it had settled at around $4,800, still up 16 percent in its biggest one-day gain since April last year.

Bitcoin surged to near $20,000 in late 2017, the peak of a bubble driven by retail investors that pushed cryptocurrencies onto the agenda of mainstream financial firms. But wide interest waned as prices collapsed, and now trading is mostly powered by smaller hedge funds, tech firms and wealthy individuals.

Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, chief executive of London-based cryptocurrency firm BCB Group, said the move was likely triggered by an algorithmic order worth about $100 million spread across major exchanges - U.S.-based Coinbase and Kraken, and Luxembourg-based Bitstamp.

"There has been a single order that has been algorithmically-managed across these three venues, of around 20,000 BTC," he said.

"If you look at the volumes on each of those three exchanges – there were in-concert, synchronized, units of volume of around 7,000 BTC in an hour".

For a graphic on Bitcoin price, see - https://tmsnrt.rs/2VadrPe

Outsized price moves of the kind rarely seen in traditional markets are still common in cryptocurrency markets, where liquidity is thin and prices highly opaque.

So orders of large magnitude tend to spark buying by algorithmic traders, said Charlie Hayter, founder of industry website CryptoCompare.

As bitcoin surged, there were 6 million trades over an hour, Hayter said - three to four times the usual amount, with orders concentrated on Asian-based exchanges.

"You trigger other order books to play catch up, and that creates a buying frenzy."

Bitcoin's surge sent smaller cryptocurrencies, known as "altcoins," trading higher. Ethereum's ether and Ripple's , respectively the second- and third-largest coins, both jumped by more than 10 percent.

Price moves of smaller coins tend to be correlated to bitcoin, which still accounts for just over half of the value of the cryptocurrency market.

"Usually bitcoin is the leader of the market and altcoins tend to follow, as far as direction and sentiment is concerned," said Mati Greenspan, an analyst at e-Toro in Israel. "Today bitcoin is in the driving seat."

Cryptocurrency markets have been relatively calm so far this year, with bitcoin trading until today between around $3,300 and $4,200.

There have been few catalysts for big price moves of the kind seen last year. In 2018, fears of regulatory clampdowns and declining interest from retail investors saw bitcoin slump by about three-quarters.

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2019-04-02 10:23:00Z
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Singapore Airlines Grounds Two Boeing Planes for Engine Issue - Bloomberg

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Singapore Airlines Grounds Two Boeing Planes for Engine Issue  Bloomberg

Singapore Airlines Ltd. found “premature blade deterioration” on some engines during routine inspections, leading the carrier to ground two Boeing Co. 787-10 ...

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-02/singapore-air-grounds-two-planes-on-rolls-royce-engine-issue-jtzf5ex1

2019-04-02 06:46:00Z
CAIiEC4HihSzVA6beVc0tlLyCu4qGQgEKhAIACoHCAow4uzwCjCF3bsCMIrOrwM

Bitcoin Price Surges 20% to $4,800 in Minutes: Is the Bear Trend Officially Over? - CCN

The bitcoin price recorded a massive surge from $4,200 to nearly $4,800 within minutes, demonstrating a 20 percent gain in a short time frame.

Bitcoin surges 20% in a matter of minutes, fueled by a short squeeze (source: coinmarketcap.com)

The $4,200 resistance level, which bitcoin has struggled to break out of for more than four months, was broken cleanly for the first time on early Tuesday morning, which led most technical indicators to turn and allow the dominant cryptocurrency to surge substantially.

Is the Bitcoin Bear Trend Over?

Earlier this week, economist and global markets analyst Alex Krüger said that a price movement of bitcoin above the $4,200 level will mark the end of the bear trend beginning January 2018, lasting 16 months.

“This is not a call. Not a matter of aging well or not. A break above $4,200 technically ends the bear trend that started Jan 2018. Facts don’t care about opinions. If strong selling resumes later on, that would represent a different trend,” he said.

The momentum of bitcoin from breaching the crucial $4,200 resistance level immediately led BTC to break out of $4,300, $4,400, $4,500, and to $4,800, which many analysts predict could go to as high as $5,500 in the upcoming days.

That's what no resistance looks like. Nothing but hot air above 4200. The longer the wait, the harder the break. This is what technical analysis is for. $BTC +20% in 45 minutes.

— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) April 2, 2019

On Monday, a technical analyst in the cryptocurrency market said that an $80 million sell wall was awaiting above $4,200, and buyers had to absorb $80 million to push the bitcoin price above the highly anticipated resistance level.

Once the level was broken, it triggered a short squeeze on major trading platforms, intensifying the upside movement of bitcoin.

Can Bitcoin Rise Even Further?

Several traders have said that while bitcoin could retrace slightly to the $4,200 to $4,300 range in the near-term, the $5,000 to $5,500 range is a reasonable target for BTC.

One analyst wrote that as long as bitcoin remains above the $4,000 mark in the short-term, it will be en route to recovering to previous levels.

“This is why we’ve been long on BTC the past few months and remain so bullish regardless of price action. OBV found support near $3,300 and continues to trend up. If this trend breaks then we’ll change our position,” the analyst said.

Click here for a real-time bitcoin price chart.

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2019-04-02 05:57:32Z
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Amazon Cuts More Prices at Whole Foods - The Wall Street Journal

Customers shop for produce during the grand opening of a Whole Foods location in Burbank, Calif., last year. Photo: Dania Maxwell/Bloomberg News

By

Heather Haddon

Heather Haddon
The Wall Street Journal
• Biography
• @heatherhaddon
• heather.haddon@wsj.com

Updated April 1, 2019 4:45 p.m. ET

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 1.88% is planning to cut prices on hundreds of items at Whole Foods stores this week, as the e-commerce giant seeks to change the chain’s high-cost image amid intense competition among grocers.

The price cuts affect more than 500 products and include a focus on produce and meat, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The move comes after Whole Foods raised prices on select items in February, mostly consumer products, as suppliers increased their prices because of higher transport and ingredient costs.

The latest cuts—which are set to drop at Whole Foods stores on Wednesday—are some of the broadest since Amazon bought the grocer for nearly $14 billion in 2017. Prices will be reduced by an average of 20 percent on the selected items. The e-commerce giant has tried to extend its own reputation for low prices and convenience to Whole Foods, to counter a sense among some consumers that shopping there required a “Whole Paycheck.”

Amazon also is seeking to keep up with other big food sellers. Walmart Inc., Kroger Co. and other grocers are holding down prices to defend their share of the $1 trillion U.S. market for groceries and consumer products. Amazon intends to open a new line of grocery stores independent from Whole Foods as early as later this year.

Some Whole Foods employees are scheduled to work overnight Tuesday and early-morning shifts on Wednesday to switch out tags to reflect the new prices and to hang orange signs promoting them. The cuts are expected to last at least through the end of the year, documents show.

The discounts include more produce and meat products than the earlier cuts. The price of organic-rainbow carrots, for instance, will drop by $1, to $1.99, and the price of Black Forest ham will drop $3 a pound to $9.99.

A Whole Foods spokeswoman said the companies have said they would continually drop prices at the chain since the acquisition.

Rapidly changing ideas about what’s healthy are causing challenges for supermarkets. WSJ’s Ken Brown breaks down 3 things they’re doing right. Photo: Getty Images.

Plans for the latest price cuts were kept under close wraps. Employees in recent weeks discussed them as secret projects with code names, one person familiar with those discussions said. Few workers at the nearly 480 Whole Foods stores in the U.S. were aware of the coming cuts, employees said.

Amazon and Whole Foods said this is the third round of price cuts. After the deal between the two companies closed in August 2017, Amazon slashed prices on bananas, avocados, eggs and dozens of other items at Whole Foods. Last year, Amazon started offering a further 10% discount on sale items for members of Amazon’s Prime subscription program, which gives customers other perks for a $119 annual fee.

The companies also said Monday that Amazon Prime members would be able to save more than before at Whole Foods, with double the number of weekly Prime Member deals and deeper discounts.

Amazon has introduced free, fast Whole Foods delivery in more than 60 markets for Prime members. Some customers have said service suffers from problems such as missing items and poor substitutions that are common to grocery delivery.

Amazon ownership hasn’t brought as many Prime members into Whole Foods stores as some analysts expected. A recent survey of 1,668 shoppers by Wall Street firm Wolfe Research found that 11% of Prime members said they shop at Whole Foods several times a month; by comparison, 65% of Prime members shop on Amazon’s website at least that often.

Wolfe said lower prices would likely help Amazon draw more prime members into its natural grocery chain.

At internal meetings, store managers have predicted that lower prices could boost traffic to their stores, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Others have voiced concerns that lower prices could hurt their operating budget, at least in the short-term.

Corrections & Amplifications
An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Wolfe Research.

Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com

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2019-04-01 20:45:00Z
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Amazon cuts Whole Foods prices and sweetens deal for Prime members — again - Chain Store Age

TECHNOLOGY

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Amazon is once again cutting prices at Whole Foods Market.

Amazon and Whole Foods are enacting the third round since Amazon purchased the specialty organic grocer in June 2017. The latest round of cuts comes amid intense competition in the grocery sector and the high-price image that still continues to plague Whole Foods. Customers will save an average of 20% on the new reduced priced items.

In addition to new lower prices on hundreds of items that start for all shoppers on Wednesday, April 3, Prime members will now have double the number of exclusive weekly Prime member deals and deeper discounts. Over the next few months, Whole Foods said it will roll out more than 300 Prime member deals on popular seasonal items.

“Whole Foods Market continues to maintain the high quality standards that we’ve championed for nearly 40 years and, with Amazon, we will lower more prices in the future, building on the positive momentum from previous price investments,” said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO. “We will continue to focus on both lowering prices and bringing customers the quality they trust and the innovative assortment they expect from our brand.”

Examples of exclusive Prime member deals in April that will rotate on a weekly basis include organic asparagus, organic strawberries, and spiral sliced ham. Prime members can also receive an additional 10% off hundreds of sale items throughout the store.

These price reductions will build on hundreds of lower prices that have been introduced to customers since the Amazon and Whole Foods Market merger, according to Whole Foods.

Starting Wednesday through the end of April, customers who try Prime can get $10 off their $20 purchase in-store at Whole Foods Market. New members can try Prime free for 30 days.

Since Whole Foods Market joined Amazon the companies have launched exclusive Prime member savings, as well as two-hour delivery on Whole Foods groceries for Prime members in 60 metro areas, grocery pickup in as little as 30-minutes at select Whole Foods Market locations, shopping via the Alexa voice-activated digital assistant, and Amazon Lockers in Whole Foods Market stores.

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2019-04-01 20:53:38Z
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