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Following the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of Armistice Day, which brought an official end to what was then referred to as “the war to end all wars,” in remembrance of all U.S. veterans we celebrate Veterans Day today. It’s a bank holiday, and while the domestic stock market is open for business, there are no government economic reports or speeches scheduled for today.
However, we do get something of a “Merger Monday” ahead of today’s opening bell — two major buyouts dominate our morning headlines, and both have deep implications for their respective industries: athenahealth is to be taken private for $135 per share, and SAP (SAP - Free Report) is betting big on a domestic software company.
Private equity firm Veritas has joined with Elliott Management to buy Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)-rated athenahealth for $5.5 billion. Elliott had previously claimed a 9% stake in the health insurance major — which beat its earnings estimates just this past Friday morning — and was involved in the ouster of athenahealth’s co-founder Jonathan Bush over this past summer. As a result of this acquisition, shares of athenahealth are trading up more than 8% in the early market.
Yesterday we first heard about European tech major SAP buying Utah-based Qualtrics for $8 billion in an all-cash deal. Qualtrics’ XM Platform is an experience management software service that focuses on feedback and data analysis. Qualtrics had intended on making its IPO this very week, but apparently its front office saw the SAP offer as too good to pass up. Shares of SAP dipped initially 5% in early market trading today, but has since buoyed a tad. This deal looks to increase SAP’s exposure to the growing A.I. market in a big way.
Futures are down at this hour, apparently held back by continually weak global oil prices. An increase of up to a million barrels per day from Iran is helping flood the market, particularly to 8 countries exempted from the U.S. instituted sanctions on the country, and most specifically China one of those 8 countries. The U.S. itself is also bringing more supply online, so after years of working down a supply glut that sent oil prices sinking like a stone and hampering market indexes along with them, what’s happening now looks somewhat reminiscent.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, better known as OPEC, meets next week to discuss the future direction of global oil supply. Officials have already signaled the central issue: that another billion barrels a day may be stifled by the biggest group of oil producers in the world. The general Industry and Sector ranks for Oil & Gas and Energy are still relatively positive (as of last Friday), but we will keep an eye on these metrics as situations dictate.
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100-Year Anniversary of Armistice Day
Following the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of Armistice Day, which brought an official end to what was then referred to as “the war to end all wars,” in remembrance of all U.S. veterans we celebrate Veterans Day today. It’s a bank holiday, and while the domestic stock market is open for business, there are no government economic reports or speeches scheduled for today.
However, we do get something of a “Merger Monday” ahead of today’s opening bell — two major buyouts dominate our morning headlines, and both have deep implications for their respective industries: athenahealth is to be taken private for $135 per share, and SAP (SAP - Free Report) is betting big on a domestic software company.
Private equity firm Veritas has joined with Elliott Management to buy Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)-rated athenahealth for $5.5 billion. Elliott had previously claimed a 9% stake in the health insurance major — which beat its earnings estimates just this past Friday morning — and was involved in the ouster of athenahealth’s co-founder Jonathan Bush over this past summer. As a result of this acquisition, shares of athenahealth are trading up more than 8% in the early market.
Yesterday we first heard about European tech major SAP buying Utah-based Qualtrics for $8 billion in an all-cash deal. Qualtrics’ XM Platform is an experience management software service that focuses on feedback and data analysis. Qualtrics had intended on making its IPO this very week, but apparently its front office saw the SAP offer as too good to pass up. Shares of SAP dipped initially 5% in early market trading today, but has since buoyed a tad. This deal looks to increase SAP’s exposure to the growing A.I. market in a big way.
Futures are down at this hour, apparently held back by continually weak global oil prices. An increase of up to a million barrels per day from Iran is helping flood the market, particularly to 8 countries exempted from the U.S. instituted sanctions on the country, and most specifically China one of those 8 countries. The U.S. itself is also bringing more supply online, so after years of working down a supply glut that sent oil prices sinking like a stone and hampering market indexes along with them, what’s happening now looks somewhat reminiscent.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, better known as OPEC, meets next week to discuss the future direction of global oil supply. Officials have already signaled the central issue: that another billion barrels a day may be stifled by the biggest group of oil producers in the world. The general Industry and Sector ranks for Oil & Gas and Energy are still relatively positive (as of last Friday), but we will keep an eye on these metrics as situations dictate.