March 10, 2014 CEOcast Weekly Newsletter
ceocastnews Newsletter
Monday, March 10 2014 jbethbeze@quilweb.com Companies featured in the current edition of the newsletter: KIN, CBDNF, ACTC A higher than expected jobs report released Friday failed to push stocks higher and a mixed day of trading ended a tepid but positive week on Wall Street. The Dow ended the week higher, up 131 points or 0.8% for the week at 16,452. The index is now down only 0.7% in 2014. The Nasdaq gained 28 points or 0.6% for the week to close at 4,336, and is now up 3.8% for the year. The S&P 500 rose 19 points or 0.1% for the week and closed at 1,878, leaving it up 1.6% for the year. The Russell 2000 jumped 20 points or 1.7% for the week, leaving the small cap index up 3.4% for the year at 1,203.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics� nonfarm payroll report for February showed higher than expected employment gains with 1750,000 jobs added, while January�s job growth was revised up to 129,000 from 113,000. Private payrolls increased by 162,000 in February, up from 145,000 added in January. Hourly earnings increased by 0.4% in January, while the average workweek fell to 34.2 in February. The unemployment rate ticked up to 6.7% from 6.6% due to an additional 264,000 people entering the workforce. Personal income rose 0.3% in January and spending by 0.4%, boosted by the Affordable Care Act additions to Medicaid rolls. These numbers compare to flat income growth and a 0.1% increase in consumer spending in December. Inflation remained low at 0.1%, well below Fed target levels. Initial claims fell to 323,000 for the week ending on the 1st of March, down from 349,000 the week before. Continuing claims for the week ending February 22nd came in at 2.907 million, down from 2.915 million the week before. The ISM Manufacturing Index in February rose to 53.2 from 51.3, but local indices fell so it is difficult to parse whether manufacturing is really improving. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index fell to 51.6 in February, down from 54.0 in January, perhaps due to ongoing extreme winter weather throughout much of the US. That weather may have impacted motor vehicle sales in February when 15.3 million vehicles were sold, up slightly from 15.2 million the month before but flat from the year before.
Earnings season is winding down with just a few retailers reporting this week. Costco�s profits fell 15% year over year to $463 million or $1.05 per share, down from $547 million or $1.24 per share. Staples announced plans to close 225 stores despite higher profits in the fourth quarter. Staples reported a profit of $135.2 million or $0.21 per share, compared to a loss the year before of $0.89 per share. Kroger reported a profit of $422 million or $0.81 per share, down from $462 million or $0.88 per share a year ago, when the period was a week longer.
The conference schedule starts with the J.P. Morgan Aviation, Transportation and Industrials Conference on March 10-12th in New York City, NY. The Credit Suisse Global Services Conference will take place on March 10th-12th in Scottsdale, Arizona. Also on the 10th through 12th, the Deutsche Bank 22nd Annual Media, Internet and Telecom (MIT) Conference will take place in Palm Beach, Florida. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2014 Consumer and Retail Conference will take place March 11th and 12th in New York City. The Barclays Global Healthcare Conference will take place March 11th-13th in Miami Beach, Florida. The Piper Jaffray Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference will take place March 11th and 12th in New York City. The UBS Technology One-on-One conference runs March 11th-12th in London, UK. The Cowen and Company Networking and Communications One-on-One Forum will take place in New York City on March 12th through the 14th. The Northland Capital Markets 2014 Growth Conference will take place March 12th in New York City. The UBS Global Consumer Conference runs March 12th and 13th in Boston, Massachusetts. The Citi Global Resources Conference will take place on the 12th and 13th in London, UK.
Kindred Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIN), a biopharmaceutical company focused on saving and improving the lives of pets, reported its first quarterly and year end results as a public company last week. For the quarter ended December 31st, 2013, the company reported a net loss of $2.4 million or $0.40 per share. The previous period was only from September 25th, 2012, the date of inception of Kindred Biosciences, to December 31st of that year when the company reported a net loss of $120,000. Research and development expenses made up the majority of the loss in the quarter, $1.8 million, compared to only $75,000 in the previous year�s comparable period. For the year, the company�s R&D expenditures reached $3.1 million. Kindred had $65.3 million in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31st, 2013, a net increase of $64.4 million from the year before due to its highly oversubscribed IPO at the end of the year. Kindred is continuing enrollment in its Cerekin� product candidate, and is positioned to begin trials of its Atokin� and SentiKin� product candidates early this year. In 2014, the company announced plans to expand its pipeline and accelerate its programs, which may lead to increased spending in the year. The company is developing commercialization infrastructure ready when and if one of its product candidates is approved, quickly moving to capitalize on the success of the company�s significant research and development expenditures. KIN closed up $1.68 for the week at $24.24.
CBD Energy, Limited. (OTCBB: CBDNF), a diversified renewable energy company and global leader in solar installations, revealed last week that it has secured the rights to develop 1.24 megawatt-peak of rooftop installations at nearly two dozen schools in the UK. This is the second addition to the company�s clean energy assets under development in the UK, and it is financed and managed by Secured Energy Bonds plc, CBD�s wholly-owned UK subsidiary, and supported by a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the schools. The installations will help power the schools, reducing their electricity bills by as much as 20%. SEB raised more than �7.5 million ($12.366 million) with an over-subscribed retail energy bond that closed in December 2013 and has allocated some of those funds for this project. CBDNF closed for the week at $18.00.
Volume Alert: Advanced Cell Technology (OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, trade more than five times its three month average volume on Wednesday, briefly topping $0.10 per share, and traded twice its three month average on Thursday. ACTC closed up $0.01 for the week at $0..08.
A profile, description, or other mention of a company in the newsletter is neither an offer nor solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. While we believe all sources of information to be factual and reliable, in no way do we represent or guarantee the accuracy thereof, nor the statements made herein. THE READER SHOULD VERIFY ALL CLAIMS AND DO ITS OWN DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE INVESTING IN ANY SECURITIES MENTIONED. This publication accepts compensation from companies that it features. This newsletter should not be regarded as an independent publication. Our editors may, from time to time, acquire positions in the companies that they cover. This could represent a conflict of interest. The CEOcast newsletter shall be under no obligation to inform readers about its trading activities. CEOcast`s editors reserve the right to buy or sell shares in these companies at any time. The following companies, featured in this newsletter, have compensated CEOcast: Kindred Biosciences, ten thousand dollars per month, CBD Energy, seven thousand five hundred dollars per month, Advanced Cell Technology, seven thousand five hundred dollars cash per month plus warrants to purchase up to fifteen million shares of stock.
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