Microsoft reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the close on July 22.
Investors anticipate strong results from the company’s growing portfolio of cloud businesses, including Azure, Office 365 and Teams.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is expected to report adjusted net income of $10.6 billion, or $1.38 a share, on sales of $36.4 billion.
Shares of Microsoft have hit all-time highs. The software giant recently shut down Mixer, a videogame streaming service, because it wasn’t able to grow Mixer to serve the streamers it had hired to generate content and to bring followers.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist to be effective against the coronavirus. The Lysol products are permitted by the EPA to claim that they can kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist are the first two surface disinfectant products the EPA has approved as effective against the novel coronavirus.
Lysol Disinfectant Spray can kill the virus “at 2 minutes of use,” per the release. This product was found to be more than 99.9% effective against the virus. The spray can be used throughout your home, on hard and soft surfaces.
The EPA’s approval recognizes that using Lysol Disinfectant Spray can help to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on hard, non-porous surfaces.
The two Lysol products are the first on the list for which the EPA has reviewed laboratory testing data and approved label claims against the novel coronavirus. In addition to the novel coronavirus, Lysol Disinfectant Sprays can kill 99.9% of the viruses and bacteria that families generally come in contact with every day. The disinfectants can be used to eliminate germs on commonly touched hard and soft surfaces.
Most individual investors and traders know that they need to have a plan, manage risk, and put in the work learning and practicing. If they do that, they are well on their way to success.
Don’t place market orders – Use limit orders, which set the maximum price you are willing to pay to buy, or the minimum price you are willing to accept to sell. A market order tells your broker to execute your buy or sell order as soon as possible and at the current bid or ask price. That strategy works for liquid stocks where the bid-ask spread is highly competitive and you are likely to get the best price. However, most options are far less active and have fewer traders wanting to buy and sell.
Don’t chase a trade – Sometimes you will not be able to buy your option at your desired price. When this happens, do not keep raising your limit price. If you do, you may end up buying that option at too high of a price for the expected result or target price to be profitable. There will always be other trades coming your way, so stick to your plan.
Don’t over-trade – While adding to a winning position is often warranted, you should never add more than you are willing to risk. Never think that you can make up for a losing streak with one big score. That’s how gamblers get into trouble. If you even find yourself with a string of losers, stop trading. Take a breath. Think about what might have been the problem. After all that, you can consider making your next trade.
Don’t wait until the last minute to make your trade – Set a “good-til-canceled” limit price based on your profit target, rather than trying to time it near expiration. In other words, sell when price reaches your target, no matter when that happens before expiration. Strange things can happen at the end of a day. Especially at options expiration. Liquidity can easily dry up, and that means you may not be able to get a price anywhere close to what you were expecting. In addition, the time decay factor embedded in an option can cause its value to crater at the last minute.
Don’t trade without a plan – This is exactly the same as the “do” mentioned earlier. You’ve got to know your trading goals, expected profit and allowable risk. And you have to know what will have to happen to make you cut your trade short before a small loss turns into a big loss.
Don’t bet the farm – We’ve already discussed this in a few ways, but it is that important. Do not take such big risks that one losing trade will drain your account. And never think that you can make up for a string of losers with that one big win. Keep your position size between 2% and 5% of your portfolio. If the market gets exceptionally volatile, make that even smaller. You want to be sure you live to trade again tomorrow.
These 6 simple stock option trading rules can help keep your trading on track because the market owes you nothing and can be a ruthless teacher. Respect the market, and you will do just fine.
Small-cap growth stocks could be ready to turn the corner after a few years of being outshone by large-cap growth, high technology peers.
As the U.S. economy starts to recover from the shock of COVID-19 forced shutdowns, small-cap growth stocks should benefit the most. That’s because they’re largely being valued at or near historical lows. And, that’s good news for small-cap stocks, which have suffered significant under performance in recent years.
Once investors realize that small-cap stocks should have superior potential returns over the next two to three years, you’ll see small-cap stocks’ valuations and their prices rise.
Upwork (UPWK, $13.87) went public on Oct. 3, 2018, at $15 a share. In the 21 months since, the online marketplace that connects freelancers with clients has delivered losses to its IPO investors.
However, despite falling to a 52-week low of $5.14 per share in April, it’s beating the S&P 500 handily year-to-date. That’s thanks in large part to an 85% run over the past three months.
The company has gone through some rotation in the C-suite. In December, then-CEO Stephane Kasriel stepped down from the top job after leading the company since April 2015, long before it became a public company. Taking over as CEO was Hayden Brown, the company’s chief marketing and product officer.
In 2017, the last full year before Upwork went public, it had annual revenue of $202.6 million. Two years later, Upwork reported annual revenue of $300.6 million, 19% higher than in 2018, and 48% higher than in 2017. Analysts continue to expect double-digit revenue growth this year and next.
Face masks can play an important role in preventing the spread of the coronavirus from infected persons respiratory systems. Masks form a literal barrier to stop particles from getting into the air and spreading to others.
Scientist Bill Nye “The Science Guy” is urging everyone to wear a mask in the fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus. He states that the mask is extremely effective at preventing “particles from your respiratory system from getting into my respiratory system” and vice versa.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended everyone wear a (cloth) mask to prevent infected people passing on the infection. It is not intended to prevent the wearer getting infected.
There are several possible routes to infection:
An infected person can cough, sneeze or breathe while within about two metres of another person, and the virus lands in the other person’s eyes, nose or mouth.
Another route is when an infected person coughs or sneezes onto their hand or onto a surface. The uninfected person then shakes the hand or touches the surface, and transfers the virus to their own eye, nose or mouth.
It is possible that an infected person can also cough or sneeze to create an airborne spread beyond the close contact range – but it is controversial whether this last route is a major means of transmission.
Masks with eye protection appear to work best because coronaviruses can enter the eyes and travel to the nose and into the respiratory system. Thus, masks combined with goggles appear to provide complete protection in laboratory experiments.
Masks protect effectively others from the virus that might have been spread by an infected mask wearer and may prevent the spread of viruses from the wearer.
Masks reduce the amounts of droplets and aerosols spread when an infected person coughs or sneeze. Ill people who don’t wear a mask and “well” people who have no symptoms but are still carrying and spreading the virus are the reasons people should wear masks while in public.
Wearing Masks
Wearing masks does appear to reduce the spread of the infection to others. Everyone with any respiratory symptoms must wear masks in public. This requirement could supplement other strategies such as social distancing, testing, tracking and tracing to reduce transmission.
To capture infected people without symptoms, we could ask everyone to wear masks in public spaces. Masks could also be required at some outdoor crowd events, such as sporting events or concerts.
Many medical experts know that the best practices for controlling an infectious disease like COVID-19 include keeping six feet apart from others, washing your hands regularly, and, wearing face masks in public.
As the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S., health experts point to a series of missteps and mis-calculations in the country’s response by federal and state governments. Here is a look back of how the U.S. became the epicenter to the pandemic.
“The fate of many lives, not to mention the U.S. and global economy, largely depends on the containment of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus.” Goldman Sachs
Cloth face coverings may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.(2)
Cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.(2)
Goldman Sachs’ analysis, led by its chief economist Jan Hatzius, concluded that “a universal mask-wearing order can improve the U.S. GDP by a huge five percentage points”. And according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “cloth face coverings are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the cloth face covering coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice”.
Goldman agrees with the emerging scientific evidence that “face masks are associated with significantly better coronavirus outcomes.” And, based on the growing evidence, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its mask guidance stating that Americans should wear them in all “public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain”.
Goldman’s analysis concludes “a national face mask order could increase face mask-wearing by 15 percentage points, reducing the transmission growth rate of confirmed cases from 1.6% to 0.6%”. Goldman concludes that “increased face-masking would substitute for local lock downs and social distancing, which caused U.S. GDP to decline 17% between January and April”.
While anecdotal evidence does suggest strongly that universal mask-wearing can greatly benefit the economy and save lives, it has been difficult to convince Americans of this fact. As a result of not mandating a national face mask-wearing, there has been a resurgence of COVID-19 inflections and hospitalizations in a number of southern and western states in the U.S.
From a medical expert perspective, “if everyone in the U.S. wore a mask, the coronavirus pandemic could be under control within four to eight weeks”, was conveyed by Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield in a discussion led by medical journal JAMA.
In summary, Goldman Sachs’ analysis suggests that the economic benefit from “adopting a national face mask mandate and increased face mask usage” could be sizable, especially when compared with the alternative of a return to broader societal lock downs and increasing COVID-19 infections.
Positive early data shows the vaccines spur the generation of more neutralizing antibodies
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted “fast track” status to two promising coronavirus candidates from Pfizer and BioNTech. The two vaccine candidates are called BNT162b1 and BNT162b2, and both are messenger ribonucleic acid (or mRNA) vaccines.
The fast-track status was granted based on preliminary data from phase one and two studies in the U.S. and Germany. The company expects to enroll 30,000 people in its next phase of trials.
If the trials are successful, the companies hope to make 100 million doses by the end of the year and possibly more than 1.2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
“The FDA’s decision to grant these two COVID-19 vaccine candidates Fast Track designation signifies an important milestone in the efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2,” said Peter Honig, senior vice president of global regulatory affairs at Pfizer.
Beetroot’s history dates back to around 300 B.C., when Greek doctors began using the leaves to bind and dress wounds, believing the leaves were a source of healing. Then Hippocrates in the 4th century discovered it was the root itself that was the source of beneficial nutrients.
Beetroot is one of the more clinically researched foods. More than 2,500 studies have been done, showing beetroot to have high levels of dietary nitrates, which go through a chemical exchange in our bodies – the NO (Nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide) pathway.
Healthiest foods
Beetroot is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. They’re a powerhouse of nutrients, packed with tons of vitamins and minerals that have been proven to provide a wealth of benefits for overall health and well-being.
One cup of cooked beet roots has 75 calories, 17 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber and meets more than 10 percent of the daily value for potassium, magnesium and vitamin C.
Betaine compounds
Beets are also rich in betalains, a class of potent antioxidants and anti-inflammatories that battle free radical- and inflammation-related chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity, and possibly cancer. Speaking of cancer, research suggests that betacyanin, the pigment that gives beets its pretty purple hue may help protect against common carcinogens; it has also shown promise against laboratory-grown breast cancer cells and is currently being investigated as a cancer-fighter.
This nutrient can help to protect cells, protein and enzymes from inflammation and environmental stress. While inflammation is helpful for the body, too much can be destructive, leading to cellular damage in the brain that can contribute to the development of neurological diseases. Beets also contain a high amount of antioxidants that protect your body – including your brain – from damage caused by free radicals.
Research shows that betaine, an amino acid found in beets, can help prevent and reduce the accumulation of fat in the liver. And, betaine improves growth and the efficiency of food utilization and reduces body fat. Animal studies show that rats given beet juice have higher levels of detoxifying enzymes in their bloodstream. Research on people with diabetes shows that betaine improves liver function, slightly decreases cholesterol, and reduces liver size.
Nitrates
Beetroot is a rich source of nitrates, which your body uses to create energy. When you ingest nitrates, your body turns it into nitric oxide, a molecule that improves the dilation of your blood vessels and helps to promote better blood flow. That means better circulation, and possibly lower blood pressure. A very small study from 2012 found that 13 men who drank just one glass of beet juice temporarily lowered their systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 to 5 points.
These compounds in beets can help to widen your blood vessels, which makes it easier for your muscles to absorb vital nutrients. As a result, your muscles will repair themselves more quickly, which leads to increased growth.
Additionally, the nitric oxide found in beets can help to enhance the development of the cells that surround the muscles and rebuild tissue. Additionally, nitric acid is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in triggering neurons, thereby activating your brain and making you feel more alert. Beets have also been found to enhance mental clarity and improve focus; two things that can help to increase your energy levels and make you feel more awake.
High nitrate veggies promote the formation of nitric oxide (NO) which is a powerful vasodilator. As a result, arteries will dilate to their fullest. Favorite 6 ‘greens’ are KALE, SPINACH, SWISS CHARD, ARUGULA, BEET GREENS, BEETS (yes, beets!)
Improve your stamina
Research has suggested that nitrates boost endurance performance. In one study, cyclists who drank beet juice could pedal hard 15% longer in a time trial to exhaustion. It takes about three to five beets (depending on their size, which varies widely) to get a performance boost, says study author Andy Jones, PhD, dean of research in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter. “Peak nitrate levels occur two to three hours after you eat or drink them,” he says.
Soluble fiber
Beets are a good source of soluble fiber. Fiber is good for you because they fuel your body, giving you the energy that is needed to perform virtually all functions. Fiber also aids in healthy digestion, which means that eating these veggies can help you maintain your weight.
By eating beets, you reduce the amount of time it takes for you to recover from some ailments, such as a cold, the flu, or a stomach virus. Beets could also help your body fight against more severe illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease. If you want to give your immune system a boost, look into eating more beets.
Beets can lower your blood sugar is because of the high amount of soluble fiber they contain. Research has found that soluble fiber can reduce blood glucose levels because it slows digestion, and slower digestion means slower absorption of glucose.
The burden of race and racism in America. Racial disparities in income and generational wealth are among the most visible and persistent features of American society.
The defining feature of the American Dream is upward mobility – the aspiration that all children have a chance at economic success, no matter their background. However, there are substantial barriers to economic opportunity that prevent Americans, specifically Black males, from rising out of poverty and achieving better life outcomes. “Black and white boys have very different economic outcomes even if they grow up in two-parent families with comparable incomes, education, and wealth, live on the same city block, and attend the same school,” according to the Equality of Opportunity Project.
In 99% of neighborhoods in the United States, black boys earn less in adulthood than white boys who grow up in families with comparable income.
Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods, still earn less in adulthood than white boys with similar backgrounds, according to a sweeping new study that traced the lives of millions of children.
White boys who grow up rich are likely to remain that way. Black boys raised at the top, however, are more likely to become poor than to stay wealthy in their own adult households.
According to the study, led by researchers at Stanford, Harvard and the Census Bureau, income inequality between blacks and whites is driven entirely by what is happening among these boys and the men they become. Though black girls and women face deep inequality on many measures, black and white girls from families with comparable earnings attain similar individual incomes as adults.
African-Americans made up about 35 percent of all children raised in the bottom 1 percent of the income distribution. They made up less than 1 percent of the children at the very top. White children are more likely to start life with economic advantages. But we now know that even when they start with the same advantages as black children, white boys still fare better, only reinforcing the disparities seen here.
In reality, whites and blacks are not represented equally across the income spectrum. More than two-thirds of black boys are raised by poor or lower-middle-class families, while more than half of white boys are raised by rich or upper-middle-class families.
The most promising pathways to reducing the black-white income gap are efforts such as mentoring programs for black boys, efforts to reduce racial bias among whites, interventions to reduce discrimination in criminal justice, and efforts to facilitate greater interaction across racial groups.
Essentially, society needs to create the same opportunities for black men to thrive as you see for white men. That would involve things like mentoring programs, reducing racial bias, creating more racial integration within schools and within neighborhoods, so black and white kids have similar opportunities.
“Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: An Intergenerational Perspective” by Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Maggie R. Jones and Sonya R. Porter; the Equality of Opportunity Project.
