The Market In 5 Minutes

Courtesy of Benzinga.

IN THE NEWS

BENZINGA

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (NYSE: BRK-B) recent investment in Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) shows that, even at age 86, Warren Buffett is still capable of a surprise or two. Here’s a look at some of Buffett’s more surprising investments in recent years and how they have performed: Link

It was a rough week for Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), one of the top performing issues in the S&P 500 index in 2016. Last year, the issue ran up 224 percent from its 2015 year-end close ($32.96) to $106.74: Link

It’s fairly common knowledge the Super Bowl typically draws the largest TV audience of the year and is also the most expensive real estate on TV when it comes to advertisers. However, the second most expensive event of the year for advertisers arrived Sunday: the Academy Awards show. Link

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) analyst Gene Munster explored when the iPhone maker will win an Oscar for its own original content: Link

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Buffett was dismissive of professional money managers in his widely read letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. But the billionaire reasserted his belief in his own ability to pick winners and losers: Link

Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel’s premise for reinventing social media in 2011 was simple: create an app to send disappearing pictures: Link

Santosh Pillai was wooed to work in the U.S. for his coding skills more than a decade ago and has built a good life in Cupertino, Calif. He considers it home and is awaiting approval for his green card—but is now worried his family could be forced leave: Link

After weeks of high expectations for a swift Dodd-Frank rollback with a Republican in the White House, the reality of a hard slog is beginning to set in on Capitol Hill: Link

REUTERS

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) is running a new price-comparison test in at least 1,200 U.S. stores and squeezing packaged goods suppliers in a bid to close a pricing gap with German-based discount grocery chain Aldi and other U.S. rivals like Kroger Co (KR) according to four sources familiar with the moves: Link

Silicon Valley crashed Hollywood’s biggest awards show on Sunday as Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) collected the first Academy Awards for streaming services while independent studio A24 won the coveted best picture Oscar: Link

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross is expected to be easily confirmed as U.S. Commerce Secretary on Monday, clearing President Donald Trump’s top trade official to start work on renegotiating trade relationships with China and Mexico: Link

Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) and other U.S. health insurers complained to the White House for more than a year that they were losing money on people who waited to sign up for Obamacare coverage until they were sick: Link

BLOOMBERG

Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday is taking on the importance of a State of the Union speech when it comes to U.S. financial markets: Link

Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in iPhone maker Apple to about 133 million shares, Buffett told CNBC: Link

President Donald Trump is proposing major defense spending increases and big cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, State Department and other federal agencies in a proposed budget to be presented soon to Congress, said a person familiar with the plan: Link

THE NEW YORK TIMES

The London Stock Exchange Group said late on Sunday that European regulators were unlikely to approve its merger with Deutsche Börse, which would have created a European heavyweight in a rapidly consolidating industry: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• Durable Goods Ex-Defense (MoM) for Jan 1.50% vs 1.70% Prior
• USA Durable Goods Ex-Transportation (MoM) for Jan -0.20% vs 0.50% Est; Prior 0.50%
• 10 a.m. Pending Home Sales (MoM), Pending Homes Index
• 10:30 a.m. Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index
• 11 a.m. FOMC Member Kaplan Speaks
• 11:30 a.m. 3-Month Bill Auction, 6-Month Bill Auction
• 6:50 p.m. FOMC Member Bullard Speaks

ANALYST RATINGS

• Goldman Sachs downgraded Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) from Neutral to Sell
• Nomura downgraded Under Armour (NYSE: UAA) from Neutral to Reduce
• B. Riley downgraded JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) from Buy to Neutral
• JP Morgan upgraded Aflac (NYSE: AFL) from Neutral to Overweight
• B. Riley upgraded Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO) from Neutral to Buy
• Argus Research upgraded Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) from Hold to Buy

NOTABLE OPTION ALERTS

• NUS NuSkin Apr 50.0 Puts Sweep: 654 @ ASK $2.50: 755 traded vs 1 OI: Earnings 5/4 After Close (est) $50.48 Ref
• THC Tenet Health Care Mar 20.0 Calls Sweep: 561 @ ASK $2.40: 1564 traded vs 812 OI: Earnings 2/27 After Close $21.78 Ref
• WMT Walmart Mar 74.0 Calls Sweep: 2000 @ ASK $0.36: 2013 traded vs 218 OI: Earnings 5/18 Before Open $72.35 Ref
• P Pandora Apr 15.0 Calls Sweep: 744 @ ASK $0.35: 749 traded vs 40 OI: Earnings 4/27 After Close (est) $13.21 Ref
• HTZ Hertz Mar 20.0 Puts Sweep: 1075 @ ASK $1.70: 1437 traded vs 6810 OI: Earnings 2/27 After Close $19.60 Ref
• VRTX Vertex Mar 90.0 Calls: 900 @ ASK $2.00: 1936 traded vs 1546 OI: Earnings 4/26 After Close (est) $85.64 Ref
• VRX Valeant Mar 16.5 Calls Sweep: 3701 @ ASK $1.20: 7567 traded vs 1657 OI: Earnings 2/28 Before Open $16.35 Ref
• KATE Kate Spade Mar 21.0 Calls: 2500 @ ASK $3.20: 2507 traded vs 9181 OI: Earnings 5/4 Before Open (est) $23.72 Ref
• WFM Whole Foods Mar 3rd 32.0 Calls: 899 @ ASK $0.20: 2785 traded vs 622 OI: Earnings 5/3 After Close (est) $31.45 Ref
• CPRX Catalyst Pharma Mar 2.5 Calls Sweep: 900 @ ASK $0.10: 900 traded vs 396 OI:
• JONE Jones Energy Mar 5.0 Calls: 5000 @ ASK $0.10: 5102 traded vs 21k OI: Earnings 3/6 After Close (est) $3.77 Ref
• P Pandora Mar 14.5 Calls Sweep: 929 @ ASK $0.22: 4594 traded vs 8924 OI: Earnings 4/27 After Close (est) $13.14 Ref
• DIS Disney Mar 115 Calls Sweep: 2682 @ ASK $0.11: 2785 traded vs 31k OI: Earnings 5/9 After Close (est) $109.28 Ref
• HALO Halozyme Jun 17.0 Calls Sweep: 500 @ ASK $0.30: 500 traded vs 2368 OI: Earnings 2/28 After Close $12.00 Ref
• WLL Whiting Pet Apr 11.0 Calls Sweep: 2001 @ ASK $0.93: 2825 traded vs 1666 OI: Earnings 4/26 After Close (est) $11.03 Ref

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it’s a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

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