Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 February 2020

Fri Feb 7 02:10:59 CAT 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 February 2020

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ü  South African Airways to scale back routes in rescue effort

ü  South Africa plans new generating firm to boost power security

ü  Barrick Gold denies Freeport-McMoran tie-up in the works

ü  Eskom bonds see biggest jump since June after debt pledge

ü  South African business confidence index falls in January

ü  Ugandan shilling stable, commodity inflows to offer support

ü  S.Africa's Eskom and Transnet in talks on coal supplied by rail

ü  Uber sees path to profit despite $1.1bn loss

ü  Boeing: US regulator says 'no timescale' for 737 return

ü  Fiat warns of coronavirus risk to Europe car plant

ü  China halves tariffs on more than 1,700 US goods

ü  Tesla’s Stock Boom: It’s OK to Miss Out

ü  SpaceX Rival OneWeb Launches 34 Satellites In Space Internet Race With
Starlink Mega Constellation

ü  Twitter Stock at 3-Month High After Strong Quarter

ü  Pinterest shares surge after earnings beat

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South African Airways to scale back routes in rescue effort

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African Airways (SAA), which entered a form
of bankruptcy protection in December, will scale back some of its domestic
and international routes from the end of February, specialists appointed to
try to rescue the airline said on Thursday.

State-owned SAA will also seek to deploy more fuel-efficient aircraft,
renegotiate contracts with suppliers, reduce the number of its employees and
consider asset sales as part of rescue efforts, the specialists said in a
statement.

SAA is among several South African state entities, including power company
Eskom, that are mired in financial crisis after nearly a decade of
mismanagement.

International routes to be closed from Feb. 29 include Johannesburg to
Abidjan via Accra, Entebbe, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Livingston, Luanda,
Munich, Ndola and Sao Paulo.

The airline will continue to serve Cape Town on a reduced basis but will
cease operations to domestic destinations including Durban, East London and
Port Elizabeth from Feb. 29, the statement said.

“The initiatives we are taking now will strengthen SAA’s business,” business
rescue practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana said.

“The decisions and actions announced today are aimed at improving SAA’s
balance sheet, creating a platform for a strong and sustainable airline and
ensuring that the company is more attractive for potential strategic equity
partners.”

State companies’ financial problems are seen as one of the biggest threats
to Africa’s most industrialised economy and have helped to push the
country’s credit rating to the brink of “junk” status.

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South Africa plans new generating firm to boost power security

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa is planning to create a new power
generating company separate from struggling state-owned utility Eskom to
boost energy security, senior officials said on Thursday.

Eskom, which generates more than 90% of the country’s electricity, is mired
in financial crisis and suffers frequent breakdowns at its coal-fired power
plants, forcing it to implement power cuts that have dented economic output.

Eskom’s problems have been a major concern among investors at industry
conference the Mining Indaba this week.

“There is going to be a separate entity to Eskom, but the issue is not Eskom
or no Eskom, the issue is security of energy supply,” Mineral Resources and
Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said on the sidelines of the conference in
Cape Town.

Details surrounding the plan for the new generating company are still hazy.

Mantashe said he wanted industry to partner with the government on its
formation, but it is not clear what that partnership would entail. It is
also not clear which generating technologies it would employ.

Director-general in the Department of Mineral Resources, Thabo Mokoena,
echoed Mantashe’s comment that the main aim of the new company would be to
improve energy security but did not elaborate further.

Barrick Gold denies Freeport-McMoran tie-up in the works

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Barrick Gold is not looking to merge with copper miner
Freeport-McMoran, CEO Mark Bristow said on Thursday, although he is
interested in the company’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia, and indicated he
wants to expand in the Pacific Rim.

Rumours the world’s second-largest gold miner planned to combine with
Freeport are “completely wrong”, Bristow told Reuters on the sidelines of
the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.

But he said he was interested in Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia - the
world’s largest gold mine, and second-largest copper mine.

“People say, are you interested in Grasberg? I say I have to be, it’s a tier
one asset,” he said. Tier one assets refer to high-grade, long-life mines.

The CEO wants to grow Barrick’s copper business to capitalise on a projected
increase in demand because of the rising popularity of electric vehicles.

“If you’re going to be a world-class gold miner, you’re going to have to
accept copper. In ten years’ time the most strategic metal on this planet is
copper, if you believe the EV story, and I do,” said Bristow.

He cautioned, however, that he was far from finding a deal that would work.

Freeport-McMoran, which traces its roots back to 1834, could bring with it
legacy risk, he said.

“Freeport is a very old company and it has bought lots of very old companies
so there’s risk, rehabilitation liabilities... and also you would never want
to go in a place like Indonesia without proper due diligence,” he said.

Freeport-McMoran’s CEO has said he would consider acquisitions, mergers, or
other deals once three ongoing expansion projects finish by 2022.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA OFFER

Struggling with unrest at the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG),
Bristow told Reuters that Barrick offered the government a 52% share of the
economic benefits of the mine in response to government demands for a larger
stake.

“Our principle is 50-50, like we did with Tanzania,” he said. “In fact in
this case we will pay a little bit more than 50.”

Barrick last month signed a deal with Tanzania that gave the state a 16%
stake in each of the company’s three gold mines in the country and an equal
share of the economic benefits from the mines, ending a bitter tax dispute.

If Barrick succeeds in resolving the dispute in PNG, the market will be more
comfortable with the company taking on more risk in the copper- and
gold-rich Pacific Rim, Bristow said.

Papua New Guinea called off negotiations with ExxonMobil on the P’nyang gas
project last Friday, blaming the energy giant for inflexibility over the
government’s demand for a bigger stake.

Asked about the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, Bristow said he wouldn’t
necessarily sell it, and could instead look for a partner in Zambia or a
deal with a copper processor.

Eskom bonds see biggest jump since June after debt pledge

LONDON (Reuters) - South Africa’s beleaguered state power firm Eskom got a
lift in financial markets on Thursday, as a pledge of help from the
country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa gave some of its bonds their best day
since June.

A spokeswoman for Ramaphosa had said on Wedndesday that he was “favourably
disposed” to a trade union proposal to use funds from a state-owned asset
manager to reduce the debt of Eskom, which generates more than 90% of the
country’s electricity.

The firm’s 2023- to 2028-maturing bonds were last up between 1 and 1.8 cents
on the dollar.

South African business confidence index falls in January

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African business confidence fell in January,
due partly to a sharp slide in the rand as emerging market currencies were
hit by global concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SACCI) monthly
business confidence index slipped to 92.2 in January from 93.1 in December,
resuming the downward trend seen for much of 2019.

SACCI said six of 13 sub-indices improved, five turned negative and two were
unchanged.

Ugandan shilling stable, commodity inflows to offer support

KAMPALA (Reuters) - The Ugandan shilling was stable on Thursday and was
expected to strengthen on the back of some dollar inflows from exporters of
commodities like coffee, gold, tea and others.

At 0927 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,670/3,780, same level
as Wednesday’s close.

S.Africa's Eskom and Transnet in talks on coal supplied by rail

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa’s heavily indebted state power firm,
which is struggling to keep the nation supplied with power, is in talks with
Transnet to increase the tonnage and lower the price of coal transported by
rail, the state logistics firm said.

Eskom, which has been trying to procure coal at the right price and quality,
has regularly cut power supplies in the past year because of unreliable
coal-fired plants.

“The opportunity here is to work at the quality of coal and the sourcing of
coal from the right mines to the right power stations,” Transnet chief
customer officer, Mike Fanucchi, told reporters on the sidelines of the
mining Indaba conference in Cape town.

Transnet, which operates much of Africa’s rail network, the bulk of it in
South Africa, aims to move 11.5 million tonnes of coal in the financial year
starting in April this year and 14 million tonnes in the following year.

Uber sees path to profit despite $1.1bn loss

Uber's business continues to grow, but so do its losses.

The firm lost $1.1bn (£851m) in the last three months of 2019, even as
revenue jumped 37% to $4bn and the number of trips made on its platform rose
by 28%.

Spending to expand its Uber Eats food delivery business hurt the firm's
bottom line.

Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi said he was "gratified" with the progress the
firm is making toward profitability.

Adjusted for items such as taxes, the core "ride" part of the business
turned a profit in the last three months of last year.

'Well-positioned to win'

"We recognize that the era of growth at all costs is over," Mr Khosrowshahi
said.

"In a world where investors increasingly demand not just growth, but
profitable growth, we are well-positioned to win".

Mr Khosrowshahi said the firm expects investment in Uber Eats to decline
after March, as the firm focuses on markets where it can be the number one
or number two "player".

Last month, Uber sold its money-losing India-based food business to
competitor Zomato, in exchange for a stake in the start-up.

Shares gained about 4% in after-hours trade, as investors welcomed the
firm's pledge to hit its profit targets in 2020, which is sooner than was
previously expected.

Since the firm debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last year, shares have
been under a cloud, as investors eye the firm's losses and it faces
regulatory hurdles around the world. London stripped it of its licence to
operate in November after concerns over safety failures.

Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the firm had delivered a solid
quarter for the company that should help build investor confidence in the
firm.

"Rome was not built in a day and neither will the Uber growth story," he
said.

However the firm will have to do more to turn around its business, said
Alyssa Altman, transportation lead at digital consultancy Publicis Sapient.

Uber lost more than $8bn last year in total, even as the number of trips
taken on its platform climbed by 32% to nearly 7 million and revenue rose
26% to $14.1bn from 2018.

"Uber's latest attempts to shed money-losing businesses, while promising,
don't guarantee it will dig itself out of the financial grave it dug for
itself," Ms Altman said.

Uber said there were more than 111 million customers active on the platform
in the last three months of 2019, up 22% from the same period in 2018.--BBC

Boeing: US regulator says 'no timescale' for 737 return

The man in charge of clearing Boeing's 737 Max to fly again has said he will
not do so until he has flown the plane himself.

Steve Dickson, head of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), would
not set a timeframe for allowing the plane back in the air.

The aircraft has been grounded by regulators around the world since March
2019.

It was banned from flying after two separate crashes killed 346 people.

Mr Dickson said on Thursday that he would fly the plane with his wife and
children on board.

Last month, Boeing said it did not expect its 737 Max plane to return to the
skies before July at least, which was longer than initially expected.

What went wrong in Boeing's cockpit?

Boeing 'is not a trustworthy company anymore'

However, Mr Dickson did indicate that a certification flight could take
place within the next few weeks. This is a necessary part of the
"re-approval" process.

The news had sent Boeing shares up by more than 3% part way through US
trading.

'Not helpful'

Speaking to reporters at a briefing in London, Mr Dickson was critical of
Boeing's statements indicating that the aircraft would not fly again until
July.

He said it was "not helpful" to be talking about specific timelines.

"For Boeing's part, what I have been encouraging is to not be making public
announcements, and instead focus on complete and fulsome submissions of data
and proposals", he added.

Mr Dickson indicated that although numerous issues with the Max had been
resolved in the past few weeks, some concerns still needed to be addressed
before a certification flight could take place.

They include issues with flight deck displays and a warning light, which he
did not expect to cause a significant delay to the re-approval, as well as
recently-discovered problems with the aircraft's wiring, which could
potentially cause a short circuit.

The issues with the 737 Max

29 October 2018: A 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air crashes after leaving
Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board

31 January 2019: Boeing reports an order of 5,011 Max planes from 79
customers

10 March 2019: A 737 Max 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashes, killing
all 157 people on board

14 March 2019: Boeing grounds entire 737 Max aircraft fleet

On the wiring, he said the regulator had not yet received any proposals from
Boeing on how it planned to resolve the problem.

In the wake of the two accidents involving the 737 Max, the FAA faced
intense criticism over the way in which it delegated a large amount of
safety work relating to the aircraft to Boeing itself.

But now, Mr Dickson made it clear, the FAA was working alone, saying: "We're
not delegating anything in this process."

He denied that this was an admission that the FAA had been a victim of
so-called "regulatory capture". He said it was a necessary step to ensure
the recertification process was "absolutely bulletproof".

However, he did add that to carry on working in this way would be
"unsustainable", and emphasised that the FAA would continue to delegate
safety work in future - although the way in which it was done would change.

'Rebuild trust'

Mr Dickson also conceded that the FAA needed to rebuild trust in its own
performance as a regulator.

"That's part of the reason why I'm going to fly the aeroplane", he said.

"I think it sends a strong message of support for my workforce and for the
integrity of the process, that I would fly the airplane, and put my own
family on it.

"I think we owe that to the victims and their families - to ensure that when
the aircraft is put back in service, that we are as diligent as we possibly
can be."

The grounding of the 737 Max, which had been Boeing's best-selling plane,
recently forced the planemaker into its first annual loss in more than two
decades.

It said in January that it expects the bill for the grounding to surpass
$18bn (£13.8bn).

That hurt the firm's finances, pushing it to a $636m loss for 2019.

Sales were worse than expected in the final three months of last year when
the planemaker booked $17.9bn in revenues.

That was much lower than $21.7bn that had been expected by analysts.--BBC

Fiat warns of coronavirus risk to Europe car plant

Fiat Chrysler says the impact of the coronavirus epidemic could halt
production at one of its European car plants within four weeks.

Car firms are on alert over possible disruption to Chinese factories and
suppliers, but Fiat's warning is the first to highlight an impact in Europe.

Fiat said supply chain issues could stop factory production in two-to-four
weeks but he did not name the facility.

The virus emerged in Wuhan, home to many major car firms and suppliers.

Nissan, General Motors, Honda, Renault and Peugeot-owner PSA are among the
companies with major facilities in Hubei province and Wuhan city, which has
been in lockdown since January.

However, motor industry operations outside the region could also be
disrupted as measures to control the epidemic are enforced.

Coronavirus: The economic cost is rising in China and beyond

Coronavirus: China to pump billions into economy amid growth fears

Germany's Volkswagen is thought to have about 40 plants in China making cars
and components.

'Critical'

Fiat's chief executive, Mike Manley, told the Financial Times there was one
"critical" supplier of parts that was putting European production at risk.

He said he was also concerned about the possible impact of three other
suppliers in China.

Chinese car parts and assembly plants have extended previously planned Lunar
New Year's shutdowns until about 9 February, and some have pushed the
shutdowns out further.

Fiat Chrysler operates in China through a loss-making joint venture with
Guangzhou Automobile Group and has a 0.35% share of the Chinese passenger
car market.

Japan's Toyota, which has a big UK plant, said it is monitoring the
situation but there was currently no impact on any operations in Europe.

A spokesman said: "As of January 24, we have restricted travel to Hubei
province, including Wuhan city. As of January 31, we have also restricted
unnecessary travel to other areas in China.

"Since there is an extensive supply chain in the automotive industry and
there are a wide range of parts and components that are used for vehicles,
it is difficult to specifically comment."

South Korea's Hyundai, the world's fifth-largest automaker, has temporarily
stopped production lines at its factories in the country because of
shortages of Chinese parts.

And Volvo has been forced to switch battery suppliers to keep production
lines operating.--BBC

China halves tariffs on more than 1,700 US goods

China plans to halve tariffs on 1,717 goods it imports from the US as the
country faces the fresh challenge of the coronavirus.

Chinese officials said tariffs on some goods would be cut to 5% from 10%,
and on others from 5% to 2.5%.

The two countries have been stuck in a long-running trade war with both
imposing tariffs on imported products.

A partial resolution was agreed last month with China promising to boost
imported US goods by $200bn.

This latest announcement to reduce tariffs is China's first response to the
"phase one" agreement .

China's economy has been under additional pressure this year as the
coronavirus outbreak threatens to derail the economy. Factories across the
country remain closed and its manufacturing sector faces a severe drop in
production.

The economic cost of the coronavirus

Tesla warns that coronavirus will hit deliveries

The tariff cuts, which cover $75bn of US goods coming into China, will take
effect on 14 February. Tariffs remain on a further $35bn worth of US goods.

The US will also roll back some tariffs on Chinese goods as part of the
agreement.

It is being seen as a significant step towards resolving the US-China trade
war. In a statement, China's finance ministry said the aim was ''to promote
the healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade
relations''.

US-China trade war in 300 words

How the US-China trade war has changed the world - BBC News

Talking about the timing of the tariff reductions, Julian Evans-Pritchard,
senior China economist at Capital Economics, said: ''Perhaps they want to
show goodwill and send the message that they are still committed to
de-escalating trade tensions despite the coronavirus delaying the ramp-up in
their imports from the US''.

Stock markets around Asia rallied on the news. Both Hong Kong's Hang Seng
and Japan's Nikkei 225 both rose 2.6% following the announcement.--BBC

Tesla’s Stock Boom: It’s OK to Miss Out

There are several good reasons to think Tesla Inc. should be more valuable
today than it was six months ago. But there aren’t any that justify its
shares more than tripling in price since then, let alone its value rising
and then falling by the equivalent of Ford Motor’s capitalization in a day.

Tesla’s shares stabilized a bit on Thursday, trading up less than 2%, a
relief for market reporters who had run out of superlatives to describe the
frenzy.

Just a few of the excesses: At its peak value of $174.7 billion on Tuesday,
Tesla was the 30th-largest stock in the U.S. and by far the largest never to
have made a full-year profit. Among the companies briefly smaller than Tesla
in market capitalization were Citigroup and HSBC, two of the world’s biggest
banks; burger chain McDonalds; and the entirety of the traditional U.S. car
industry.

More than $55 billion of Tesla stock was traded on Tuesday, more than the
next 10 most-traded stocks put together—including technology giants Apple,
Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook.

There is no plausible fundamental justification for any of this. Tesla
didn’t suddenly prove it was on the road to high and sustainable profits,
the competition didn’t collapse and CEO Elon Musk didn’t demonstrate a
breakthrough technology. The good news in the last few months was that the
Chinese production facility was up and running, the company doesn’t think it
needs to raise money this year and the fourth quarter went better than
expected.

If Tesla makes a profit in the first quarter, the company will pass the S&P
500’s financial viability test, making its inclusion in indexes more likely.

S

That justifies a bit more confidence that Tesla could succeed in becoming a
profitable mass-market electric car maker, but such incremental improvement
should justify only a slightly higher share price, not the ramp-up we have
seen.

What about technicals? If Tesla makes a profit in the first quarter—for what
it’s worth, analysts expect a loss of a few cents per share—then Tesla will
finally pass the S&P 500’s financial viability test, making a profit over
both 12 months and the latest quarter.

Given it is by far the biggest stock not in the benchmark, it has a good
chance of being included in the index, prompting automatic buying by major
index funds. Again, this could justify a pop in the price, perhaps as much
as 5-7%, according to past academic studies. It doesn’t justify the price
doubling in a month, as it did up to Tuesday, or indeed falling 17%, as it
did on Wednesday.

Desperate attempts by short sellers to buy stock to exit their positions are
often behind such wild rises in share prices. The evidence on borrowed stock
however doesn’t support the idea that Tesla was driven up by a short
squeeze, according to analysts including Robert Sloan, founder and managing
partner of S3 Partners, which collects data on the stock lending required
for short selling.

Instead, it seems to be about the close following Tesla stock has among
individual investors. “It’s a very basic thing,” says Mr. Sloan. “This is
the one stock where the average Joe says I’m smarter than the Street.”

The crowd following Tesla is so big that the company kicks off its quarterly
conference calls with questions from private investors, rather than the Wall
Street analysts who are usually the only ones able to quiz a CEO.

Mr. Musk is clear about his preference for private traders over bank
analysts.

“I do think that a lot of retail investors actually have deeper and more
accurate insights than many of the big institutional investors and certainly
better insight than many of the analysts,” he said on last month’s call.

Yet, the volume in the stock suggests speculative day trading is dominating
price moves. Individual investors don’t seem to be putting Tesla shares
aside for the long run.

“It’s very reminiscent of a number of stocks around 2000,” says James
Clunie, whose mutual fund at Jupiter Asset Management has been mauled by its
short position in Tesla recently. “Many of them vanished. A number went on
to become winning companies—but you still lost money.”

Mr. Clunie points to chip maker Qualcomm, one of the best-performing stocks
in 1999’s dot-com bubble, before it burst in 2000. Qualcomm turned into a
great success, but its shares only passed their January 2000 high for the
first time three months ago.

Tesla supporters think the stock market’s mistake was to price the stock far
too cheaply last summer, rather than wildly overpricing it today.

The biggest shareholder in Tesla is holding on to its position at the
moment. James Anderson, head of global equities at Edinburgh’s Baillie
Gifford, says he’s thrilled that his patience in sticking with Tesla has
paid off. He argues that the recent Tesla news shifts the odds toward a
greater chance that the company lives up to its potential, with evidence of
a better competitive position and improved use of capital.

For him, Baillie’s 7.7% stake in Tesla is a long-term bet on a move toward
green technology, something that should be reflected in stock prices. “We
think there’s a technological (and societal) revolution starting,” he told
me this week. “On the one side Tesla is the early sign of financial frenzy
associated with it, on the other isn’t it interesting that this has happened
at the same time as collapsing oil equities?”

I’m deeply skeptical that Tesla can generate enough profitable growth to
justify a valuation of about 183 times this year’s forecast reported
earnings of $4.10 per share.

I expect fierce competition from traditional car makers to keep margins
down, while I seriously doubt the prospects for a machine-learning
breakthrough soon that allows Tesla to lead a self-driving revolution. As a
result, of course, I have missed out on one of the biggest stock run-ups in
history. I’m fine with that.--wsj.com

SpaceX Rival OneWeb Launches 34 Satellites In Space Internet Race With
Starlink Mega Constellation

More than 30 satellites for the space internet company OneWeb have been
successfully launched, as their race with SpaceX to deliver high-speed
internet across the globe begins.

Today, Thursday, February 6 at 6.42 P.M. Eastern Time, a Soyuz rocket lifted
off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with 34 of the U.K. company’s
satellites on board. The launch, handled by Arianespace, will see the
satellites deployed into a polar orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers
nearly four hours after the launch, before they are raised to their
operational altitude of 1,200 kilometers with their own onboard propulsion.

Ultimately OneWeb plans to launch 648 satellites into its constellation, 588
of which will be operational along with 60 spares, with the potential for
nearly 2,000 satellites in total in the future. While smaller than SpaceX’s
42,000 satellites planned in its Starlink mega constellation, OneWeb is
planning to offer a similar service.

“Each satellite forms an integral part of the high-speed global satellite
broadband network and together will activate OneWeb’s first customer demos
by the end of 2020 to provide full commercial global services for sectors
such as maritime, aviation, government and enterprise in 2021,” the company
said in a statement.

OneWeb has already launched six satellites into space almost a year ago in
February 2019. But following today’s launch, the company is hoping to
rapidly increase its number of satellites, each weighing about 150
kilograms, with 20 launches planned by the end of 2021 and 30 to 36
satellites per launch.

The company’s goal is to deliver high-speed internet to any location on
Earth, which paying customers will be able to access via an as-yet
undisclosed ground terminal, although it is not aiming for the same speeds
as SpaceX. Later this year, OneWeb plans to begin its service in the Arctic,
with global coverage planned by the end of 2021.

OneWeb satellite in orbit

Each OneWeb satellite is solar-powered and has its own propulsion system.
ONEWEB

Like SpaceX, however, OneWeb has faced criticism for the number of
satellites it is launching. While modest compared to Elon Musk’s venture,
OneWeb alone still plans to nearly increase by half the 1,500 active
satellites that orbit Earth today.

This has led to concerns about space junk in orbit while, if any of OneWeb’s
satellites were to fail at their operational altitude, they would likely
remain in orbit for hundreds of years. OneWeb says it is including a
magnetic fixture on its satellites, so that they can be grabbed and
deorbited in the event of failure, but details on what company would remove
the satellites has not yet been released, although there are options.

And there are lingering concerns, too, about the impact of these
constellations on astronomy. SpaceX has come under heavy fire for the
brightness of its Starlink satellites, which are already impacting
astronomical observations, with potential for legal action. There are fears
OneWeb’s satellites could be similarly bright, along with concerns for radio
astronomy.

Both SpaceX and OneWeb have both touted their goals of bringing three
billion without internet access into the digital age, albeit without any
details on whether the services will be affordable or are desired. But there
remain significant hurdles to overcome before these large constellations are
accepted as being worth the risks they pose.

And there has been some beef between the two companies. In October last
year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell made some publicly negative comments
about OneWeb, suggesting that SpaceX had “far more capacity” in its
satellites than the UK company and other competitors.

“Oneweb? We are 17 times better per bit,” she said. “If you’re thinking
about investing in OneWeb, I would recommend strongly against it. They
fooled some people who are going to be pretty disappointed in the near
term.”

Nearly a dozen other organizations from the US to China are planning their
own space internet mega constellations, including Amazon with its planned
Project Kuiper constellation of more than 3,000 satellites. OneWeb’s launch
today well and truly kicks off the race to emerge from this field, with
SpaceX's Starlink the clear frontrunner so far, but with the potential for
one or two others to join them.

Now with its first launch in 2020 under its belt, OneWeb will be hoping it
can cement itself as one of these major players. But with launches from both
SpaceX and OneWeb set to come thick and vast, many will be hoping the
concerns about these constellations can be addressed sooner rather than
later.--forbes.com

Twitter Stock at 3-Month High After Strong Quarter

Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) is trading higher by more than 8% in Thursday's
pre-market, despite missing fourth quarter 2019 profit expectations and
providing modest in-line guidance. Revenues rose 10.8% year over year to
$1.01 billion, beating consensus expectations by 2%. Most importantly,
monetizable daily active users (mDAU) of 152 million marked a healthy
increase from 126 million last year and 145 million in the third quarter of
2019, underpinning a 12% year-over-year increase in advertising revenues.

The stock dropped like a rock after a bearish third quarter report in
October, gapping down more than eight points in a 20.8% one-day decline. It
has struggled to recover since that time and was trading just three points
higher than the gap open ahead of this morning's confessional, which has
lifted the stock into the upper half of the big hole. Technically speaking,
this is a relatively neutral zone, telling informed market players to watch
buying power closely after the opening bell.

A wave of downgrades followed the third quarter report, and it's hard to
tell if fourth quarter metrics will induce analysts to reverse gears and
recommend buying the social media giant. Several firms have also expressed
concern that Twitter isn't accepting political advertising during the 2020
election cycle, missing out on substantial income. From a trading
standpoint, a positive change of heart needs to come quickly or price action
could quickly enter another period of underperformance.

TWTR Long-Term Chart (2013 – 2020)

Long-term chart showing the share price performance of Twitter, Inc. (TWTR)

TradingView.com

The company came public in a widely anticipated November 2013 initial public
offering (IPO) and settled into a trading range in the $40s, ahead of a
strong rally into year end. It posted an all-time high at $74.73 at that
time and reversed, carving a topping pattern that broke to the downside in
February 2014. The decline cut through the IPO opening print a month later,
adding to a decline that found support in the upper $20s in June.

A recovery effort posted a lower high in October, setting the stage for
renewed selling pressure that broke the 2014 trading floor in the second
half of 2015. The downtrend escalated into the second quarter of 2016,
finally ending when the stock posted an all-time low at $13.73 in May. It
tested that support level 11 months later and turned higher, completing a
double bottom reversal that attracted healthy buying interest.

The rally reached resistance at the IPO opening print in June 2018, with
that level narrowly aligning with the 50% sell-off retracement level. It
gapped down on high volume one month later, reinforcing resistance in the
mid-$40s that repealed a second rally attempt in September 2019. The
50-month exponential moving average (EMA) has acted as support during this
range-bound action, highlighting the need for bulls to hold the mid- to
upper $20s.

The monthly stochastics oscillator entered the overbought zone in September
2019 and crossed into a sell cycle, reaching the oversold zone in December.
It has just lifted into a new buy cycle, predicting relative strength that
should persist into the second half of 2020. Even so, huge supply within the
October gap could take time to overcome, suggesting slow improvement rather
than a quick assault on last year's high. 

TWTR Short-Term Chart (2018 – 2019)

Short-term chart showing the share price performance of Twitter, Inc. (TWTR)

TradingView.com

The on-balance volume (OBV) accumulation-distribution indicator posted an
all-time high in September 2019 and entered a distribution phase that ended
in late October. Buying power since that time has been impressive, lifting
OBV back into the prior high. This pattern confirms extensive bottom fishing
as well as institutional support that should underpin gains in coming
months.

Summing up, the October gap stands out like a sore thumb on this daily view,
with strong resistance up to $39. The stock is now trading about 2.5 points
under that ceiling despite the impressive bounce, highlighting layers of
resistance that will require a big batch of sidelined capital. While fourth
quarter 2019 results were impressive, Twitter might not attract enough new
investment for an easy ride back to the highs.

The Bottom Line

Twitter stock has rallied to a three-month high after a strong quarterly
report but still must overcome substantial overhead
supply.--https://www.investopedia.com/

Pinterest shares surge after earnings beat

The company beat on both the top and bottom lines for the quarter and gave
upbeat guidance for the full year.

Shares climbed as much as 17.1% in after-hours trading on the results.

Ben Silbermann, co-founder and chief executive officer of Pinterest Inc.,
center, rings the opening bell on the floor on the New York Stock Exchange
during the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in New York, on Thursday,
April 18, 2019.

Pinterest shares climbed as much as 17.1% in after-hours trading on Thursday
following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. The company beat on
both the top and bottom lines for the quarter.

Here are the key numbers:

·         Earnings per share: 12 cents, excluding some items, vs. 8 cents
forecast by Refinitiv

·         Revenue: $400 million, vs. $371 million expected per Refinitiv

·         Monthly active users: 335 million, vs. 331.3 million forecast by
FactSet

·         Average revenue per user: $1.22, vs. $1.14 forecast by FactSet

·         Pinterest’s 2020 full-year outlook also exceeded analysts’
expectations. For the year, Pinterest said it expects revenue to come in at
up to $1.52 billion, compared with consensus estimates of $1.5 billion.

The results show that Pinterest’s recent adjustments to the app seem to be
paying off. Last quarter, Pinterest said it redesigned the app to make it
easier for users to discover new ideas.

CEO Ben Silbermann said the company continued to improve the “foundation of
the Pinterest app” in the fourth quarter by strengthening recommendations
and the shopping experience, as well as speeding up the performance of the
platform. In 2020, Pinterest intends to focus on “delivering relevant
content, ads and shopping experiences,” he added.--https://www.cnbc.com/

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Companies under Cautionary

Bindura Nickel Corporation

Padenga Holdings

Delta Corporation

Meikles Limited

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