Daily morning briefing

U.S. stock index futures are shooting for a comeback after the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended its worst week since March. The Dow is pointing to a 250-point advance, while contracts tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are up 1.2% and 1.7%, respectively. A series of deals are boosting sentiment: Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) reached a $21B agreement to acquire Immunomedics (NASDAQ:IMMU), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is paying $40B to buy Arm Holdings from Japan's SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) and Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) may be taking over TikTok's (BDNCE) U.S. operations (see below). On the coronavirus front, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) said its coronavirus vaccine could be distributed to Americans before the end of the year, while AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) restarted Phase 3 trials in the U.K. Overnight Summary -- World markets applaud resumption of COVID-19 vaccine trials and flurry of M&A activity The global equity markets are mostly higher with US futures rebounding over 1% this morning. AstraZeneca resumed its COVID-19 vaccine trials over the weekend and seems to be giving markets underlying support. S&P Futures are trading about 32 points higher to around the 3355 area. The overnight range saw a high of 3375.00 and a low of 3336.25. In Asia, both China and Japan began the week on a positive note. The Shanghai posted a second straight session of gains with another close near the high of the day. In Japan, the Nikkei was supported by news that Yoshihide Suga was elected new president of the Liberal Democratic Party, succeeding Shinzo Abe. SoftBank (+9%) was among the leaders after announcing a divestiture of Arm Ltd to NVIDIA for $40 bln. In Europe, the major bourses got off to a solid start following the news of AstraZeneca's resumption of vaccine trials. These markets have been unable to sustain the early gap higher. Economic news was light, but the Eurozone reported better than expected Industrial Production for July. The EU saw a rise of 4.1%, better than the forecast of +4.0%. Market Updates International Markets Stocks in Asia are mixed. The Australia ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.66%, the Nikkei 225 is up 0.65%, the Shanghai SE Composite Index is up 0.57% the Hang Seng is up 0.56% and the Mumbai Sensex is down -0.25%. In Europe stocks are mixed. The CAC 40 is up 0.23%, the Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.01%, the FTSE 100 is down -0.05% and the DAX is down -0.08%. Futures and Currencies Energy futures are up today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is up 0.02 at 37.35 per barrel. Brent crude is up 0.04 at 39.87 per barrel. Natural Gas is up 0.12 at 2.39. Precious metals are up this morning. Gold is up 4.19 at 1944.74 per ounce. Platinum is up 8.65 at 939.48 while silver is up 0.17 at 27.03. The dollar is down compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is down against the euro, down against the Yen and down against the Pound. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Acquisition details The dealmaking continues as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) agreed to buy SoftBank's (OTCPK:SFTBY) chip division Arm for $40B in cash and stock, in a deal that could have wide-ranging implications for the global semiconductor industry. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) also said it would acquire biotech company Immunomedics (NASDAQ:IMMU) in a $21B deal that will expand its availability of cancer treatments through innovative drug Trodelvy, an FDA-approved treatment for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. The therapy could ring up $3B-$5B a year in annual sales if it proves to work safely against other cancers, Jefferies & Co. analyst Michael Yee said in a research note. NVDA +6%; IMMU +105% premarket.Stocks on the Move Oracle Corporation (ORCL), FedEx Corporation (FDX) and Coty Inc (COTY) are moving higher this morning, while MGM Resorts International (MGM), Altria Group Inc (MO) and Iron Mountain Inc (IRM) are headed lower. Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED), Comerica Incorporated (CMA) and GameStop Corp. (GME) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while Total SE (TOT), Grupo Aeroportr dl Pcfco SAB de CV (PAC) and MGM Resorts International (MGM) were downgraded. Mixed reports overnight suggested that Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) may be the suitor in line to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations, though any deal would be structured as a partnership and not an outright sale. That follows Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) statement that it (along with Walmart (NYSE:WMT)) has been rejected by TikTok owner ByteDance (BDNCE) as a buyer. There's only a few more days until a September 15 deadline imposed by President Trump to prevent a TikTok shutdown. Any deal would also have to receive approval from the Chinese government, which recently outlined a series of technologies that are subject to export bans or restrictions. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Covid Second wave, second lockdown Israel's cabinet has voted to impose a second nationwide lockdown starting Friday, becoming the only developed country to shut down again. Infections have surged ninefold and deaths have quadrupled since late May, while nearly one-fifth of the labor force remains out of work even though most of the economy has been open for months. Other countries dealing with new record infection rates are watching the three-week lockdown closely, which will coincide with a major Jewish holiday season.Phase 3 Trial season is here: the final lap of the Covid-19 vaccine race Good things come in (phase) threes?... TBD. Out of the 170 Covid-19 vaccines in development, 35 have been approved for clinical human trials. Out of those, only 9 have advanced into the final phase of trials (aka Phase 3). Now the drugmakers are aiming to seek regulatory approval or emergency-use authorization as soon as October. Three of the Phase 3 front-runners: AstraZeneca: Is aiming to wrap up Phase 3 next month. It just resumed trials after briefly pausing due to an illness in a volunteer (apparently unrelated). Pfizer: If its vaccine with BioNTech proves safe, it would be the 1st mRNA vaccine ever approved (unless Moderna gets there first). Moderna: Its final stage trial could yield interim results in the fall. The stakes... need little explanation. A vaccine is critical to stopping this world-shattering pandemic that has killed ~920K people. And it all hinges on Phase 3 results. These large-scale trials (usually 30K people) test whether the dose that would be given to the public is safe. BTW: Russia's vaccine skipped this final stage. While Phase 3 could go on for a while, positive mid-trial results could be enough for a vaccine to start getting approval for mass production and distribution in October. Vaccines usually take 6-10 years from development to approval. The US has invested over $10B in "Operation Warp Speed" to make that happen in less than a year. Overnight Summary -- World markets applaud resumption of COVID-19 vaccine trials and flurry of M&A activity The global equity markets are mostly higher with US futures rebounding over 1% this morning. AstraZeneca resumed its COVID-19 vaccine trials over the weekend and seems to be giving markets underlying support. S&P Futures are trading about 32 points higher to around the 3355 area. The overnight range saw a high of 3375.00 and a low of 3336.25. In Asia, both China and Japan began the week on a positive note. The Shanghai posted a second straight session of gains with another close near the high of the day. In Japan, the Nikkei was supported by news that Yoshihide Suga was elected new president of the Liberal Democratic Party, succeeding Shinzo Abe. SoftBank (+9%) was among the leaders after announcing a divestiture of Arm Ltd to NVIDIA for $40 bln. In Europe, the major bourses got off to a solid start following the news of AstraZeneca's resumption of vaccine trials. These markets have been unable to sustain the early gap higher. Economic news was light, but the Eurozone reported better than expected Industrial Production for July. The EU saw a rise of 4.1%, better than the forecast of +4.0%. Market Updates THE TAKEAWAY Approval isn't the final challenge... Getting a high enough percentage of the population safely vaccinated is key. But in a Gallup poll last month, 35% of Americans said they wouldn't take an FDA-approved COVID vaccine, even if it was free. To boost public trust in the safety of COVID vaccines, 9 drugmakers just pledged to "uphold the integrity of the scientific process" during development. After FDA approval, trust will be critical. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Oil demand may never be the same BP (NYSE:BP) has become the first oil major to call the end of an era many thought would last another decade or more, saying the relentless growth of oil demand is over in its latest energy outlook. Oil consumption may never return to levels seen before the coronavirus crisis took hold and even the firm's most bullish scenario sees demand no better than "broadly flat" for the next two decades as the world moves away from fossil fuels. The forecast helps explain why BP has recently said it would shrink oil and gas output by 40% over the next decade and spend as much as $5B a year building one of the world's largest renewable-power businesses __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ economy Amazon's latest job spree Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is hiring 100,000 full and part-time employees across the U.S. and Canada to help pack, ship or sort orders, marking the e-commerce behemoth's fourth hiring spree this year. The new jobs include benefits and sign-on bonuses of as much as $1,000 in select cities, as well as starting wages of at least $15 an hour. The company already had to hire 175,000 people earlier this year to keep up with the rush of orders, and last week said it had 33,000 corporate and tech jobs it needed to fill. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Gapping up M&A news: IMMU +106.2% (to be acquired by Gilead (GILD) for $88.00 per share in cash) NVDA +6.5% (to acquire Arm for $40 bln) Select ETFs trading higher: SMH +2.2%, IBB +2.1%, IGV +1.6%, QQQ +1.2%, SPY +1.1%, IWM +1.1%, DIA +0.8% Other news: ETNB +26.9% (announced positive topline results from its Phase 1b/2a trial with BIO89-100 in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) SGMS +17.3% (announces that a number of long-term institutional investors, including highly credentialed gaming industry investor Caledonia, have reached agreement to acquire a 34.9% stake in SGMS from MacAndrews & Forbes at $28.00/share) DVAX +10.8% (announce commercial supply agreement for inactivated, Adjuvanted COVID-19 Vaccine) SGEN +9.3% (Seattle Genetics (SGEN) and Merck (MRK) to collaborate on two Oncology studies: Merck to acquire $1 bln equity stake in Seattle Genetics common stock) CEL +7.2% (appoints Shai Amsalem as the Company's CFO effective September 13) MOGU +5.6% (authorizes the repurchase up to $10 mln of its shares, effective until September 12, 2021) CNSL +5.6% (announces strategic investment from Searchlight Capital Partners; initiates refinancing) RADA +4.2% (receives $10 mln in accumulated new orders since mid-July 2020; reaffirms guidance) BNTX +3.6% (BioNTech and Pfizer propose expansion of pivotal COVID-19 vaccine trial) PFE +2.6% (BioNTech and Pfizer propose expansion of pivotal COVID-19 vaccine trial) AKBA +2% (amended manufacture and supply and facility construction agreement) NAV +2% (issues statement regarding revised proposal from TRATON; believes it serves as a starting point for exploring possibility of a transaction) MRK +1.3% (Seattle Genetics and Merck (MRK) to collaborate on two Oncology studies: Merck to acquire $1 bln equity stake in Seattle Genetics common stock) Analyst comments: GME +11.8% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Telsey Advisory Group; upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies) OSTK +7.5% (initiated with Buy at Needham) MU +3.9% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman) AMKR +3.2% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse) ANDE +2.9% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets) CRUS +2.5% (upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays) GPC +1.4% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan)