Sales & Marketing news

• Here's the complex and expensive way some oil producers are guarding against plunging prices

  24-04-2020 21:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Companies such as Hess Corp and Cairn Energy as well as countries including Mexico use a hedging strategy to keep selling crude oil at higher prices, even when US and global benchmarks tank, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. 
  Hedging is a complicated and risky practice that allows producers to lock in a future price, protecting against falling oil prices. 
  It's paid off for some producers amid a historic rout in the oil market that sent the price of West Texas Intermediate
  
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• US stocks rise as House passes nearly $500 billion relief package, oil rebounds

  24-04-2020 19:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  US stocks rose slightly Friday after the House passed a nearly $500 coronavirus relief package Thursday night. 
  The bill will provide more money to small businesses, hospitals, and ramp up coronavirus testing. 
  Oil prices rebounded, reversing some losses from historic lows earlier in the week. 
  Investors also looked to first quarter earnings reports. Many companies have lowered guidance for future performance amid the coronavirus pandemic. 
  Read more on Business Insider.
  US s
  
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• Nintendo cuts 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' interest rates to boost virtual spending

  24-04-2020 19:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Nintendo lowered the interest rate in "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" to 0.05% on Thursday, from 0.5%, Kotaku first reported.
  Players received a letter from the game's Bank of Nook explaining the change. The letter included a rug shaped like a bag of bells.
  The update was likely made to spur in-game spending and deter users from using a time-travel exploit to speed up interest payments.
  The virtual rate cut follows similar policies around the world as central banks ease lending conditions to com
  
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• Manny Stotz is so good at allocating capital that billionaire Howard Marks was his biggest investor from the get-go. He breaks down a high-upside bet he's making on 'frontier' stocks in nations like Bangladesh and Egypt.

  24-04-2020 19:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Manny Stotz, the founder of Kingsway Capital, wooed legendary investor Howard Marks to the point that the legendary billionaire became his firm's biggest day-one investor. 
  Today, Stotz is laser-focused on countries that have favorable and growing demographics, high GDP growth, and improving standards of living.
  Stotz also warns of the risks that are inherent to these rapidly developing markets.
  Click here for more BI Prime stories.Early in his career, Manny Stotz — the founder of Kin
  
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• Peloton jumps 9% after attracting a record 23,000 members to single virtual cycling class (PTON)

  24-04-2020 19:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of Peloton Interactive jumped as much as 9% on Friday after the company announced they had 23,000 members attend a single virtual cycling class, Bloomberg first reported.
  The company also said it's surpassed 2 million worldwide members.
  As gyms across the country are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Peloton is seeing a surge in business.
  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
  Shares of Peloton Interactive jumped as much as 9% on Friday following an announcement that th
  
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• DraftKings soars as much as 18% in trading debut amid sports lockdown and intense market volatility

  24-04-2020 19:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Sports betting firm DraftKings soared as much as 18% in its Friday trading debut.
  The company went public through a merger with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp and SBTech, allowing shares to begin trading without an initial public offering or direct listing.
  DraftKings' first day of trading arrives as the coronavirus halts nearly all sports leagues and drives wild stock market moves.
  Despite the sports shortage, the company has seen a spike in esports interest and is even offering betting on vide
  
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• Marc Benioff's Salesforce scores a 370% return on Zoom after investing $100 million last year

  24-04-2020 18:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  Salesforce has scored a 370% return on its Zoom investment in just 12 months as the coronavirus pandemic continues to fuel demand for video-conferencing.
  Marc Benioff's enterprise-software giant bought $100 million worth of Zoom stock at the time of its IPO last April.
  Zoom's stock price has skyrocketed since then, boosting the value of Salesforce's stake to about $470 million.
  More than 300 million people logged into Zoom meetings on April 21, marking a 2,900% increase from the 10 million daily
  
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• Famed 'Big Short' investor Steve Eisman explains why he's betting big on major US banks (TREX, KBE)

  24-04-2020 18:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  Steve Eisman, senior portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman, sees opportunity in the large bank stocks following the coronavirus pandemic and associated market sell-off.
  "I actually think long-term, the best cyclical play out there are the very large banks," Eisman said on CNBC's Fast Money.
  Eisman, who was played by Steve Carell in "The Big Short" movie about the financial crisis, also revealed a new short position.
  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
  Famed investor Steve Eisman,
  
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• Fewer than half of working Americans will have a paycheck in May as devastating coronavirus layoffs persist, economist says

  24-04-2020 18:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Recent job losses due to the coronavirus pandemic could mean that fewer than half of working-age Americans will be earning a wage in May, James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, wrote in a Thursday note.
  Job losses have already contributed to slumps in consumer spending, seen in retail and housing sales reports. Given that consumption makes up roughly 70% of US gross domestic product, the effects on the economy will be severe.
  In an election year, the widespread unemployment will
  
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• US durable goods orders slump the most since 2014, weighed down by the coronavirus pandemic and canceled Boeing orders

  24-04-2020 18:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  New orders for durable goods in March fell 14.4% after a 1.1% revised increase in February, according to a Friday report from the Commerce Department.
  Transportation equipment fell 41% in March, leading the report lower. That was led by a 300% drop in orders for non-defense aircrafts, likely due to decreased Boeing orders. 
  New core capital goods orders, which exclude aircraft, rose 0.1% in March following a 0.8% decline in February.
  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.US dur
  
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• Power Line: The real reason crude oil went negative, top oil stock picks, and why the clean-energy transition endures

  24-04-2020 18:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Welcome to Power Line, a weekly energy newsletter brought to you by Business Insider.
  Here's what you need to know:Want to get this newsletter in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. 
  Most of our content is available to BI Prime subscribers. Click here for 20% off. 
  Got a tip or feedback about this newsletter? Email [email protected]. Remember in math class when you reached imaginary numbers — the square root of negative 1?
  That's what one analyst
  
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• Oil spikes 9% as market rebound puts negative prices in rear view

  24-04-2020 17:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  West Texas Intermediate crude oil tore higher for a second straight session, jumping as much as 9% to $17.95 per barrel on Friday.
  Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, traded as much as 6.4% higher to $22.70 per barrel.
  The rally marks a sharp reversal from lows seen earlier in the week, when Tuesday expiration for May delivery contracts drove WTI to negative prices for the first time in history.
  While some analysts are cheering the rebound, others see the move as a "dead-cat bounce" befo
  
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• Zoom surges as much as 7% to all-time highs following inclusion in Nasdaq 100 Index (ZM, QQQ, WLTW)

  24-04-2020 17:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of Zoom Video Communications surged as much as 7% in Friday's trading session to new all-time highs after it was announced that the company would be included in the Nasdaq 100 Index on April 30.
  The company has seen its daily user base surge 2,900% since the coronavirus outbreak.
  Shares of Zoom have risen more than 400% since pricing its IPO at $36 per share in 2019.
  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Shares of Zoom Video Communications surged as much as 7% to $181.50 in F
  
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• US banks retreat from European lending as the coronavirus pandemic rages

  24-04-2020 16:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  US banks are lending less to companies in Europe during the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
  JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs are taking greater care in making loans to large corporate clients across Europe, the newspaper said.
  "We are increasingly observing an 'America first' attitude among large US banks," one adviser told FT.
  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.American banks are balking at lending to companies in Europe as the coronavir
  
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• INSIDER TODAY: What's the right balance?

  24-04-2020 16:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Hello! Welcome to the next edition of Insider Today. Please sign up here.
  As a reminder, this is a beta email publication that David Plotz and I are writing with the help of our excellent journalists. Our goal is to provide you with insight and analysis about the big stories of the day.
  Thanks as always for reading. Please feel free to reply to this email and tell us what you like or don't like, and we'll evolve and improve as we go. 
  —Henry Blodget ([email protected]) and David Plot
  
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• As popular oil ETF plunged to single digits, retail investors rushed to buy the dip (USO)

  24-04-2020 15:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  When popular oil ETF USO plunged to single digits as oil prices turned negative earlier this week, retail investors piled into the ETF, trying to catch the bottom.
  Over the course of six weeks, data from Robintrack.net shows a 2,050% increase in Robinhood accounts that own the ETF. During that same time, USO plunged 70%.
  On the other side of the trade were the shorts, who've reaped more than $300 million in gains amid the oil carnage.
  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Since the
  
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• The Fed will keep interest rates near zero for at least 3 more years, economist survey says

  24-04-2020 15:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Federal Reserve will leave its benchmark interest rate at financial crisis-era lows — near zero — until at least 2023, more than half of economists surveyed by Bloomberg said.
  Though the Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet next week, 90% of respondents don't expect the meeting to yield any guidance on how long the Fed will maintain its policy course.
  The central bank's spate of monetary relief efforts have already pushed its balance sheet to $6.57 trillion, but the
  
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• Traders made $286 million by betting against a popular oil ETF as prices plummeted

  24-04-2020 14:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  From February 27 to April 21, USO short-sellers made $286 million in mark-to-market profits, a 110% return through Tuesday, according to a Tuesday note from Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners.
  In those two months, traders betting against USO went into "overdrive," shorting an additional 50 million shares, tripling the previous number shorted.
  USO has been weighed down as the price of WTI oil slumped and fell into negative territory for the first time ever o
  
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• The SEC took action against 23 companies for making false claims about COVID-19

  24-04-2020 14:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken action against 23 companies for making false claims about coronavirus.
  SEC officials warned of 'pump and dump' schemes where people spread false information to boost a company's stock price then sell its shares at a profit.
  The federal agency also said micro-cap stocks were more vulnerable to coronavirus fraud.
  Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken action against 23 companies for making
  
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• Morgan Stanley explains why the end of wild swings in the stock market is near — and shares the perfect trade to profit from the calm ahead

  24-04-2020 14:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The coronavirus crisis recently sent a gauge of stock-market volatility spiking to a level last seen during the 2008 credit crunch. 
  This elevated state of market activity is now poised to give way to more muted gains, according to Andrew Sheets, the chief cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley. 
  He shared an options-trading strategy for enhancing returns even as the market rises at a slower pace. 
  Click here for more BI Prime stories. Investors are by now accustomed to mas
  
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• Why do creative ideas get rejected?

  24-04-2020 01:03
  
  Advertising creatives often hold different views of what constitutes original, appropriate work than external judges, according to a study published in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR).
  
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• Who is tomorrow’s marketer?

  24-04-2020 01:03
  
  The marketing skillset is changing rapidly; by prioritising upskilling, soft skills and implementing continuous learning, brands can develop more effective marketing teams, says a leading specialist in media executive search.
  
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• TV viewing in the UK undergoes profound change

  24-04-2020 01:03
  
  The British Government ordered the UK to go into lockdown on March 23 and, after a month of self-isolation at home, a new study has revealed dramatic changes to TV viewing habits.
  
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• Diversity in marketing: the next steps

  24-04-2020 01:03
  
  From #Unstereotype to this week’s launch of the WFA Diversity & Inclusion Task Force, the marketing industry has long been aware of the need to get smarter in how they portray people; and it’s not just about window dressing – doing it right...
  
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• China sees huge growth of new mobile internet users

  24-04-2020 01:03
  
  Coronavirus has forced much societal change in China and that includes a surge in internet usage in lower tier cities, as previously tech-resistant consumers, especially older generations, embrace smartphones and other devices to keep in...
  
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• Brands can tap growth in APAC mobile gaming

  24-04-2020 01:03
  
  Gaming stands to be one of the few winners in an environment where consumers are confined to their homes – and brands are undergoing a mental shift in the way they think about this channel, according to AdColony’s Tom Simpson.
  
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