Wawa says malware may have collected customer card info - CNN

On December 10, the company found malware on the servers it uses to process payments at "potentially all Wawa locations," said Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens in a letter Thursday to customers. He added that the company was able to get rid of the malware within two days, and that the firm believes it no longer poses a risk to customers.

Cards used at Wawa stores between March 4 and December 12 could have been compromised. Gheysens said the malware could have affected credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates and cardholder names on cards used at in-store cash registers or gas pumps. Wawa's ATMs were not affected.

Debit card PIN numbers, credit card CVV2 numbers (the three or four-digit security code printed on the card), other PIN numbers, and driver's license information used to verify age-restricted items were not exposed, according to Gheysens.

At this time, the chain said it wasn't aware of any unauthorized use of payment card information. Gheysens said customers will not be responsible for fraudulent charges on their cards.

Wawa is offering free identity theft protection and credit monitoring at no charge to its customers.

The Philadephia-based chain has more than 850 convenience retail stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, and Washington, DC, according to its website.

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2019-12-20 13:19:00Z
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2019 has a chance at being a historic year for the stock market - CNBC

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The S&P 500 just crossed 3,200 for the first time ever, hitting its seventh round-number milestone of 2019, a year that has a good chance at being one for the record books.

With less than two weeks left in 2019, the S&P 500 is up more than 27%, about 2% away from 2013's gain of 29.6%.

If it exceeds that, it would then be the best year in 22 years, when the benchmark jumped 31% in 1997.

The S&P 500 has only posted only one down week over the past 11 as the easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China led to a rush into equities. The two countries reached a "phase one" agreement that includes some tariffs rollback and more agriculture buying from China. Investors also shrugged off the impeachment of President Donald Trump by the House as chances are slim that he will be removed from office.

Based on the historic performance going back to 1950, the majority of December's gains in the S&P 500 have tended to happen towards the end of the month, according to Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist for LPL Financial. So if history is any guide, the market could have a shot at topping 1997's record.

"We still have time to believe in Santa," said Detrick. "December has been widely viewed as a strong month for stocks, with this year following suit so far."

Optimism is rising that the global economy will snap out of its trade-induced slowdown and that sluggish earnings growth will start improving. Wall Street analysts are seeing more room for stocks to run next year but at a much slower pace. The average 2020 year-end target of 3,330 represents a gain of about 4% from here, according to the CNBC Market Strategist Survey.

"The low interest rate environment continues to argue for favoring stocks over bonds," Savita Subramanian, head of U.S. equity strategy at Bank of America, said in a recent note. "Corporates will be in the driver's seat, and we think execution and delivering on earnings will be key to generating returns in 2020.

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2019-12-20 12:17:00Z
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These 10 S&P 500 stocks were lousy in 2019, but they could return 40% or more in 2020 - MarketWatch

Deep Dive

By Philip van Doorn

Published: Dec 20, 2019 6:00 am ET

There’s a tendency for one year’s dogs to recover the following year

Shares of American Airlines are down 12% this year, but analysts expect a 31% rally for the stock over the next 12 months.

This has been an excellent year for U.S. stocks — so good, in fact, that among the S&P 500, only 57 have had negative returns. But it may be profitable to look among the losers for bargains.

Mark Hulbert recently pointed to a trend among stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA+0.49%  for one year’s worst performer tends to perform very well the following year. (Of course, he also warned that there have been exceptions to the trend.)

Looking at the year’s 57 losers among the S&P 500 SPX+0.45% 23 are down 10% or more (including reinvested dividends). Of course, a 10% drop for the best of this group may not seem like terrible performance, as stock prices are volatile. But it looks particularly bad when you consider that the S&P 500 has returned 30% this year through Dec. 18.

Among the 23 stocks, 10 have majority “buy” or equivalent ratings among the Wall Street sell-side analysts polled by FactSet. Here they are:

Company	Ticker	Total return - 2019 through Dec. 18	Share 'buy' ratings	Share neutral ratings	Share 'sell' ratings	Closing price - Dec. 17	Consensus price target	Implied 12-month upside potential
Concho Resources Inc.	CXO+1.64%	-21%	79%	18%	3%	$81.12	$100.79	24%
DuPont de Nemours Inc.	DD+0.06%	-14%	75%	25%	0%	$63.91	$80.29	26%
Mosaic Company	MOS-1.25%	-28%	65%	30%	5%	$18.22	$25.84	42%
Nielsen Holdings PLC	NLSN+1.06%	-11%	64%	29%	7%	$19.88	$25.21	27%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.	COG+0.95%	-23%	63%	30%	7%	$16.85	$21.83	30%
Cimarex Energy Co.	XEC+0.79%	-17%	62%	38%	0%	$50.66	$63.73	26%
Mylan N.V.	MYL+2.7%	-31%	59%	41%	0%	$18.81	$25.73	37%
Abiomed Inc.	ABMD-4.28%	-46%	56%	44%	0%	$178.87	$238.00	33%
Alliance Data Systems Corp.	ADS-0.33%	-25%	53%	47%	0%	$110.45	$126.24	14%
American Airlines Group Inc.	AAL+1.96%	-12%	53%	33%	14%	$28.00	$36.72	31%
Source: FactSet

You can click the tickers for more about each company.

Based on the 12-month price targets, the analysts expect double-digit gains for the entire group.

If you are interested in any of the stocks on the list, do your own research before investing to determine your own comfort with the company’s strategy and prospects.

Here are other stock lists looking ahead to 2020 or back over 2019 and the past decade:

• Here are Wall Street’s favorite stocks for an oil-sector recovery in 2020

• These are Wall Street’s top dividend stock picks for 2020

• Top stock picks for 2020: The best of the biggest

• Top stock picks for 2020: Making money with midsize firms

• Top stock picks for 2020: Standout small companies

• Here’s how Wall Street’s favorite stock picks turned out in 2019

• These are the 20 best-performing stocks of the past decade, and some of them will surprise you

Create an email alert for Philip van Doorn’s Deep Dive columns here.

See original version of this story

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2019-12-20 11:00:00Z
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Andrew Bailey selected to replace Mark Carney as governor of the Bank of England - CNBC

Andrew Bailey, the current head of the U.K.'s financial watchdog, has been named as the next governor of the Bank of England.

The news, first reported by the Financial Times late Thursday, was confirmed by the U.K.'s Finance Minister Sajid Javid on Friday morning.

"When we launched this process, we said we were looking for a leader of international standing with expertise across monetary, economic and regulatory matters. In Andrew Bailey that is who we have appointed," Javid said at a press conference Friday.

Bailey, 60, is the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates the financial services industry in the country. Prior to joining the FCA in 2016, Bailey was the chief executive for the Prudential Regulatory Authority — another part of the U.K.'s central bank.

Bailey joined the Bank of England in 1985 and has worked in a number of areas, including as the executive director for banking services. Bailey is set to take over from Mark Carney on March 16, becoming the 121st governor of the Bank. He will be serving a full eight-year term.

Carney, who joined in 2013 and had to deal with the uncertainty and market turmoil caused by the 2016 Brexit referendum, was set to step down on January 31. However, Javid confirmed that Carney has agreed to stay in the post until March 15 for an orderly transition.

Javid thanked Carney for his work and contribution to the U.K. economy. "The intellect, rigor and leadership he brought to the role during a critical time was a significant contribution to the U.K. economy moving to recovery and growth," he told reporters.

Sterling is down more than 14% against the dollar since Carney took office in July 1, 2013.

"Mark Carney has overseen one of the most tumultuous periods in the U.K.'s political and economic history," Phil Smeaton, chief investment officer at Sanlam U.K., said in a note on Friday.

"Now however, Boris' (Johnson) newly revitalised government is set to being certainty to the U.K., boost fiscal spending on infrastructure and core public services, and allow business to unleash its pent up investment demand. Such a backdrop is a stark difference to the quagmire that Carney was forced to slog through, and though tackling the economic challenges of a departure from the EU is still the top priority for Andrew Bailey, he will also need to balance the inflationary risks against subdued global growth."

Andrew Bailey, chief executive officer of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Jason Alden | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bank of England's security breach

More recently, the Bank of England has been criticized after it admitted that an audio feed of sensitive information had been leaked to high-speed traders.

On Thursday, following a report in The Times newspaper, the Bank said that a third-party supplier had "misused" the audio feed to give hedge funds early access to information. According to The Times, the supplier had sent the audio feed to traders who had access to a 5 to 8-second head start, as audio tends to be transmitted faster than video.

"This wholly unacceptable use of the audio feed was without the Bank's knowledge or consent, and is being investigated further," the central bank said in a statement Thursday, without naming the supplier.

The central bank held its main interest rate steady on Thursday at 0.75% with its rate-setting committee voting 7-2 in favor of keeping the current level.

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2019-12-20 08:53:00Z
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Jobless claims tumble in mid-December after spiking to a more than two-year high - MarketWatch

Bloomberg News/Landov

Job seekers can still find work even with the economy slowing and companies not hiring as many workers.

The numbers: The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell in mid-December after a post-Thanksgiving surge, returning closer to the extremely low level of layoffs that has prevailed over the past few years.

Initial jobless claims fell by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 in the seven days ended Dec. 14, the government said Thursday.

New claims had jumped in early December to 252,000 to mark the highest level in more than two years. The increase stemmed from a late Thanksgiving holiday that skewed the government’s process for adjusting the numbers for seasonal swings in employment.

Economists polled by MarketWatch estimated new claims would total 235,000 in the seven days ended Dec. 7. Claims are seen as a rough measure of how many people are losing their jobs.

Read: Fed signals no change in interest rates in 2020 in more upbeat view of the economy

What happened: All the states with the biggest increases in actual or unadjusted jobless claims two weeks ago showed the biggest declines last week. They fell sharply in New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Minnesota.

The one notable exception: California. If applications for benefits subside in the Golden State next week, the national jobless claims number could drop close to prior levels. New claims have averaged around 215,000 a week since last spring.

Jobless claims often gyrate during the long holiday season at the end of each year. Complicating matters was a later than usual U.S. Thanksgiving holiday that threw off the government’s seasonal adjustments.

The more stable monthly average of new claims, meanwhile, rose by 1,500 to 225,000.

The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims, increased by 51,000 to 1.72 million.

Big picture: No surprises here. Economists had expected new claims to fall after the spike early in the month, sending them back toward post 2008 recession lows.

By most measures, the U.S. labor market is the strongest it’s been in decades. Hiring has slowed a bit from last year, but incomes are rising a healthy 3% a year and the unemployment rate sits at as 50-year low of 3.5%. Many companies say their biggest labor-related problem is finding skilled workers.

Read: CEOs lower forecast for U.S. economy for the seventh quarter in a row

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.10% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.04% were set to open slightly lower in Thursday trades.

The 10-year Treasury yield TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.50% edged up to 1.94%.

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2019-12-19 13:31:00Z
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US weekly jobless claims fall from more than 2-year high - CNBC

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits dropped from more than a two-year high last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 for the week ended Dec. 14, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Though the drop did not unwind the prior week's jump of 49,000, it likely does not indicate a material shift in labor market conditions as claims data tend to be volatile in the period following the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

The prior week's surge, which boosted claims to 252,000 — the highest reading since September 2017 — probably reflected a late Thanksgiving Day this year compared to 2018. That could have thrown off the model used by the government to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims would fall to 225,000 in the latest week. They expect claims to remain elevated relative to October's low reading given volatility in the data around the holiday season and end of the year.

The Labor Department said no claims for states were estimated last week. The four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose 1,500 to 225,500 last week. The underlying trend in claims remains consistent with a strong labor market.

Last week's claims data covered the period during which the government surveyed business establishments for the nonfarm payrolls component of December's employment report.

The four-week moving average of claims rose 4,250 between the November and December survey periods, suggesting some cooling in job growth. The economy added 266,000 jobs in November, the most in 10 months. The unemployment rate fell back to 3.5%, the lowest in nearly half a century.

Labor market strength is underpinning consumer spending, keeping the economy on a moderate growth path despite headwinds from trade tensions and slowing global growth that have weighed on manufacturing.

Thursday's claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid increased 51,000 to 1.72 million for the week ended Dec. 7. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims rose 6,250 to 1.68 million.

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2019-12-19 13:30:00Z
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BMW appears to poke fun at Elon Musk with live Twitter countdown of electric car sales - CNBC

A BMW I3 electric car charges its battery outside the BMW factory on May 20, 2019 in Leipzig, Germany. The I3 is made at the Leipzig plant.

Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The BMW Group announced Thursday that 500,000 of its electrified cars had been sold, live-tweeting the milestone in what many will see as a light-hearted jab at Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Toward the end of November, Musk sent a series of tweets relating to what he described as "orders" for his firm's Cybertruck. On November 24, for instance, the billionaire simply tweeted "200k," followed by "250k" a few days later.

The tweets have generated a great deal of discussion, especially regarding what Musk actually means by the word "orders."

BMW began tweeting a series of numbers on Wednesday evening, starting with "499,820". 

By Thursday, the tweets had ended with the countdown on a figure of 500,000, with an explanation that half a million BMW Group electrified vehicles had been sold. It said this equates to one every four minutes.

"Half a million vehicles is the best proof: our broad range of electrified vehicles is meeting exact customer needs," Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management at BMW, said in a statement issued Thursday.

Zipse added that the business "was stepping up the pace significantly" and aiming to have a million electrified vehicles on the road "within two years."

The BMW Group currently offers 12 electrified vehicles. By the year 2030, it wants half of its vehicles sold in Europe to be electrified.

Alongside firms such as Tesla, some of the automotive industry's major players are now making significant moves in the electric vehicle sector.

In November, the Volkswagen Group officially started series production of its ID.3 electric car. The German carmaker is planning to launch "almost 70 new electric models" by 2028.

In March, Japanese car giant Nissan said its compact hatchback, the Leaf, had become the first electric car to exceed 400,000 in sales.

The BMW Group's announcement of 500,000 electrified car sales comes in the same week that car sharing service Share Now – a joint venture between BMW and Daimler – announced it was leaving the North American market and also ceasing operations in London, Florence and Brussels.

In a statement on its website, Share Now explained the decision to leave North America was down to "the volatile state of the global mobility landscape" and the "rising infrastructure complexities facing North American transportation today."

CNBC's Ryan Browne contributed to this report 

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2019-12-19 12:45:00Z
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