$WLTW

some wltw in whale acct tho). Small trim to OKTA too

RECAP 10/21 Chatter: $NEON - Offering $ROKU - $GOOGL Youtube TV Split $SNDL $ACB + $TLRY (MF) $WLTW + Starboard

Upgrades 10/20: $CLW $F $HAL $IEX $TEL $TMO $WTI . Downgrades 10/20: $ARRY $APO $ASND $AVIR $BBL $BHP $CMP $FSLR $GRTX $KSU $MU $NFLX $QRVO $RIO $SEDG $SHLS $SYF $VALE $WDC $WLTW $WU $ZTO

RECAP 9/30 Chatter: $AUVI + SARS-CoV-2 results $PLTR - may lose ICE Contract $WLTW + Starboarg, Elliot Activist stakes $USO $UCO + Chine Energy Secure Supplies $USO $UCO - OPEC+ Release

Thursday, September 23, 2021 Futures Up/Down % Last Dow 162.00 0.47% 34,291 S&P 500 23.25 0.53% 4,407 Nasdaq 83.50 0.55% 15,247 U.S. stocks are looking at another move higher following strong gains on Wednesday despite the FOMC taking a more “hawkish” stance on both rates and the timeline on asset purchase tapering during yesterday’s meeting. Stocks jumped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cleared the way to ease monthly bond purchases “soon” and signaled interest rate increases may follow more quickly than expected. Stocks pared gains late as Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke at his press conference but still closed up solidly. Fed officials indicated that they see interest rates seen rising to 1% in 2023, faster than projected by the Fed in its projections in June, and then to 1.8% in 2024. Nine of eleven major S&P 500 sectors ended the day higher. However, of note, all 11 groups retreated from the moments before Powell’s press conference began, into the close. The Dow Transport index slid to 6-month lows following weakness from Fed-Ex (FDX) earnings results and guidance the night prior. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index was closed, the Shanghai Index rose 13 points to 3,642 and the Hang Seng Index gained 289 points to 24,510. In Europe, the German DAX is up over 130 points (0.89%) to 15,645, while the FTSE 100 rises about 20-points to move above 7,100. Oil prices are slipping but still holds near two-month high with global stockpiles tightening. In China news, the WSJ reported China is preparing for the “demise” of Evergrande, signaling Beijing’s reluctance to get involved and bail out the company. Events Calendar for Today 8:30 AM ET Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 320K 8:30 AM EST Continuing Claims…est. 2.65M 9:45 AM ET Markit Manufacturing PMI, Sept-F…est. 61.5 9:45 AM ET Markit Services PMI, Sept-F…est. 55.0 9:45 AM ET Markit Composite PMI-Sept-F 10:00 AM ET Leading Index MoM for Aug…est. +0.7% 10:30 AM ET Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data 11:00 AM ET Kansas City Fed Manufacturing for Sept…prior 22 Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: DRI, DYNT, IWSY, RAD Earnings After the Close: AEHR, AGTC, AIR, CAMP, $COST, MTN, $NKE, PRGS, $RSSS Other Key Events: Credit Suisse 7th Annual Oil & Gas Non-Bus Tour (virtual), 9/21-9/23 DA Davidson Diversified Industrials & Services Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23 Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference (virtual), 9/21-9/23 JPMorgan 12th Annual U.S. All Stars Conference (virtual), 9/21-9/23 Oppenheimer Fall Healthcare Life Sciences & MedTech Summit (virtual), 9/20-9/23 Roth Capital 8th Annual Solar Symposium (virtual), 9/20-9/23 Sidoti Fall Small Cap Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23 Wells Fargo 4th Annual Consumer Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23 Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index gained 41.45 points, or 0.95%, to 4,395.64 The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 338.48 points, or 1.00%, to 34,258.32 The Nasdaq Composite jumped 150.45 points, or 1.02%, to 14896.85 The Russell 2000 Index advanced 32.38 points, or 1.48% to 2,218.56 Macro Up/Down Last Nymex -0.32 71.91 Brent -0.27 75.92 Gold 3.80 1,772.00 EUR/USD 0.0028 1.1715 JPY/USD 0.11 109.89 10-Year Note +0.003 1.335% World News China is preparing for the “demise” of Evergrande, signaling Beijing’s reluctance to get involved and bail out the company (the gov’t will only step in should the company’s failure turn disorderly) – WSJ https://on.wsj.com/3i2x8WH Sector News Breakdown Consumer Steelcase ($SCS) 2Q EPS $0.21 vs est. $0.23 on revs $724.8Mm vs est. $761.3Mm; guides 3Q revs $755-785Mm vs est. $713Mm, sees 3Q EPS $0.07-0.11 vs est. $0.09 Funko ($FNKO) entered into a new credit agreement for a term loan facility of $180M and a revolving credit facility of $100M that mature September 17, 2026 Brilliant Earth ($BRLT)33M share IPO priced at $12.00 Hyatt ($H) 7M share Secondary priced at $74.50 Sovos Brands ($SOVO)3M share IPO priced at $12.00 Energy, Industrials & Materials HB Fuller (FUL) 3Q adj EPS $0.79 vs est. $0.79 on revs $827Mm vs est. $797.6Mm; guides FY revs +17-18% vs est. +14.4%, sees FY adj EBITDA abut $460-470Mm vs est. $463Mm KB Homes (KBH) 3Q EPS $1.60 vs est. $1.62 on revs $1.47B vs est. $1.57B; qtrly homes delivered +35% to $3,425, ending backlog value +89% to $4.84B; inventory +19% to $4.66B as of Aug. 31; repurchased 4.7Mm shares for $188.2Mm Northrop Grumman ($NOC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs with a $350 price target and General Dynamics (GD) also upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs with a $176 price target in the defense sector; L3Harris Technologies (LHX) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs with a $207 price target, Lockheed Martin (LMT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy with $402 tgt and Woodward ($WWD) downgraded to Sell from Neutral with $102 tgt Loop Capital started Regal Beloit Corp (RBC) with a Buy rating and $180 price target and Timken (TKR) with a Hold rating and $72 price target Grinrod Shipping ($GRIN)842M share Spot Secondary priced at $13.50 Syncrude Canada, majority-owned by Suncor Energy ($SU), cut September supplies due to a mechanical disruption at its Alberta oil sands site, Bloomberg reported Financials Chinese Estates (Holdings) Ltd. is planning to sell all of its shares in China Evergrande Group, as the property investment company is worried about the recent stock-price volatility and financial condition of debt-laden Evergrande. Chinese Estates, which currently holds 751.09 million shares or a 5.66% stake in Evergrande, expects to record a realized loss on the stake of about 1.38 billion Hong Kong dollars ($177.2 million) for the year ending December Remitly Global (RELY)16M share IPO priced at $43.00 The9 ($NCTY), Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform, and Protocol Labs, a major contributor of open-source projects are forming an ecosystem collaboration on NCTY’s Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform NFTSTAR and GameFi Play-to-Earn projects Safehold (S$AFE)2M share Secondary priced at $76.00 Willis Towers Watson ($WLTW) raises share buyback program by $4B Raymond James Financials ($RJF) posts Private Client Group assets in fee-based accounts of $643.5B grew 33% Y/Y, thanks to the net addition of financial advisers; record client assets under administration of $1.21T rose from $945.2B in the year ago period and $1.18T in the prior month. Healthcare The FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization for a booster dose of Pfizer ($PFE)/BioNTech’s ($BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine for those 65 and older, those who work in healthcare settings, and adults at high risk of severe COVID-19. The authorization includes people whose “frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19.” Sterling Check (STER)285M share IPO priced at $23.00 Eargo, Inc. (EAR) shares fell -50% on reports it is the target of a criminal investigation by U.S. DOJ related to insurance reimbursement claims submitted on behalf of customers covered by federal employee health plans; the co is withdrawing its financial guidance for fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 Spectrum Pharma (SPPI) Journal of Clinical Oncology Abstract listing for co.’s ‘poziotinib for patients with HER2 exon 20 mutant non–small-cell lung cancer Cigna Corp (CI) named Eric Palmer as president and chief executive officer of Evernorth, its health services unit that mainly houses its pharmacy benefit management business; also announced several other leadership changes Medirom Healthcare (MRM) rises 39%; after saying that it will buy Japanese private hair salon operator Zacc Kabushiki Kaisha in an all-cash deal of 370.0 mln yen ($3.36M) Thorne HealthTech (THRN) 7M share IPO priced at $10.00 Stifel initiated Buy ratings on Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX) with a $202 price target, Kinnate Biopharma (KNTE) with a $32 price target, and Repare Therapeutics (RPTX) with a $48 price target; Hold ratings on Ideaya Biosciences (IDYA) and Revolution Medicines (RVMD) Needham started SAGE Therapeutics (SAGE) at a Buy and added it to its Conviction List; also initiated Buy ratings on Intra-Cellular Therapeutics (ITCI), Avadel Pharmaceuticals (AVDL), Jazz Pharmaceuticals ($JAZZ), Biogen ($BIIB), Harmony Biosciences ($HRMY), and Hold ratings on Neurocrine Biosciences ($NBIX) and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) Technology, Media & Telecom Blackberry ($BB) shares rose 8% after earnings; Q2 EPS ($0.06) vs est. ($0.07) on revenue $175M vs est. $163.5M Facebook ($FB) chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer said in a Facebook post: “After 13 amazing years at Facebook, I have made the decision to step down as Chief Technology Officer and transition to a new part time role as Facebook’s first Senior Fellow at the company sometime in 2022 EngageSmart ($ESMT)55M share IPO priced at $26.00 Roku ($ROKU) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim

Added WLTW, in most accounts now

RECAP 8/11 Chatter: Meggit + $TDG $AJG + $WLTW RE deal $ACN - Hacked $VTIQ - Poni.ai on hold $DISCA - Polish bill $WKHS - USPS continuing w $OSK

Wednesday, July 7, 2021 Futures Up/Down % Last Dow 30.00 0.09% 34,490 S&P 500 8.00 0.18% 4,342 Nasdaq 77.00 0.52% 14,852 Stock futures are looking higher, as the Nasdaq Composite looks to extend its record-breaking streak following large cap tech outperformance yesterday (all-time highs for AMZN, GOOGL), aided by plunging Treasury yields as the fear of inflation has subsided greatly the last few weeks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year falls another 2 bps, hitting lows around 1.33% today (lowest since February). The S&P 500 looks to get back on track after having its 7-day win streak snapped yesterday, also stopping a string of record closing highs as investors await minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting later today for clues on the central bank’s next policy moves. China is widening its clampdown on tech firms listed overseas and regulators are now planning to change overseas listing rules. Oil prices looking at a healthy rebound after yesterday’s pullback. Seven of the 11 S&P sectors closed down on Tuesday, with Energy the weakest through the session as crude fell, while Financials also struggled in the face of lower rates. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index declined -276 points to 28,366, the Shanghai Index rose 23 points to 3,553 and the Hang Seng Index lost -112 points to settle at 27,960. In Europe, the German DAX is higher by 125 points to 15,635, while the FTSE 100 is up about 35 points to 7,140. Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index slipped -8.80 points, or 0.20%, to 4,343.54 The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -208.98 points, or 0.60%, to 34,577.37 The Nasdaq Composite gained 24.32 points, or 0.17%, to 14,663.64 The Russell 2000 Index declined -31.26 points, or 1.36% to 2,274.50 Events Calendar for Today 7:00 AM ET MBA Mortgage Applications Data 10:00 AM ET JOLTs Job Openings for May 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: $MSM Earnings After the Close: $SAR, $WDFC Other Key Events: FOMC minutes are released from the last meeting of the policy-making committee Macro Up/Down Last Nymex 1.31 74.68 Brent 1.20 75.73 Gold 10.40 1,807.50 EUR/USD -0.0002 1.1822 JPY/USD 0.16 110.79 10-Year Note -0.024 1.346% Sector News Breakdown Consumer Didi Global ($DIDI) extends yesterday declines after China stepped up scrutiny over its data security and widened a crackdown on companies listing abroad Boston Beer ($SAM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse and raise tgt to $1,490 from $1,304 Asur ($ASR) announced that that total passenger traffic for June reached a total of 4.6M passengers, 5.1% below the 4.8M passengers reported June 2019 which reflects a lower demand for travel in general International Game Technology ($IGT) signs a contract with the Western Canada Lottery to provide 700 CrystalDual 27 video lottery terminals. LGI Homes ($LGIH) said it closed 997 homes in June 2021, up from 760 homes closed in June 2020, representing year-over-year growth of 31.2%; announced record-breaking quarterly closings of 2,856 during Q2 compared to 2,005 closings same period a year ago, a 42.4% increase year-over-year Energy, Industrials and Materials TechnipFMC ($FTI) said it was awarded a “significant” integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract from Tullow Oil for the Jubilee South East development offshore Ghana; the company defines a “significant” contract as $75M-$250M Steel Dynamics ($STLD) board authorizes a buyback of $1B in additional shares following the previous $500M program which had $51M remaining available for repurchase Oasis Petroleum ($OAS) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Royal Dutch Shell ($RDSA) said it will boost returns to shareholders via share buybacks or dividends earlier than expected after a sharp rise in oil and gas prices helped it reduce debt; said it will increase its distribution to shareholders to 20% to 30% of cash flow from operations beginning in Q2, the company said in a trading statement before quarterly results. MSC Industrial ($MSM) Q3 adj EPS $1.42 vs. est. $1.37; Q3 revs $866.29M vs. est. $847.2M; Q3 average daily sales rose 2.2% NASA has awarded Mechanical Integrated Services and Technology II contract worth $531M to a joint venture between Aerodyne and KBR ($KBR). Financials S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he can’t schedule a summer trial in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust suit challenging Aon’s ($AON) proposed takeover of Willis Towers Watson (WLTW) – WSJ. The judge instead said he intends to hold trial proceedings for a few days starting November 18, and then again during an opening in his schedule from December 20-22 Ellington Financial ($EFC) 6M share Spot Secondary priced at $18.22 MarketAxess ($MKTX) recorded $567B in trading volume for June 2021, of which $239.5B was credit volume and $327.5B rates volume; total credit average daily trading volume and total credit trading volume dropped 10.1% Y/Y to $10.89B and $239.52B, respectively. Healthcare OncoSec Medical Inc. ($ONCS) said it has entered into a collaboration and supply agreement with Merck & Co. (MRK) to evaluate the combination of its interleukin-12 Tavo with Merck’s anti-cancer immunotherapy Keytruda in a global clinical trial. Dare Bioscience ($DARE) rises after revealing on June 30, entered into an agreement with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for development of DARE-LARC1 implant, its experimental user-controlled, long-acting reversible contraceptive (awarded grant of up to $48.95M) Savara ($SAVA) files $250M mixed securities shelf Technology, Media & Telecom Smart Global ($SGH) 3Q adj EPS $1.39 vs. est. $1.09 on sales $437.7Mm vs. est. $415.6Mm; guides 4Q net sales $440-480Mm vs. est. $439.4Mm, sees 4Q adj EPS $1.60 +/- $0.15 vs. est. $1.23 Samsung Electronics ($SSNLF) said it expects more than 53% growth in Q2 operating profit, driven by strong demand for memory chips and operations resuming at a key US factory; sees sales of ~KRW63T and operating profit of ~KRW12.5T China’s top market regulator has fined a slew of companies, including subsidiaries of Didi Global Inc. ($DIDI), for what it said was monopolistic behavior linked to nearly two dozen deals. Turkcell ($TKC) to acquire Boyut Grup Enerji, which owns the Izmir Karadag Wind Power Plant for an enterprise value of $29.6M

/*============================================= = Thursday, June 17, 2021 = =============================================*/ Futures Up/Down % Last Dow -110.00 0.32% 33,795 S&P 500 -16.25 0.39% 4,196 Nasdaq -87.50 0.63% 13,885 U.S. stock futures are lower, with major averages looking to open down between -0.3% and -0.6% after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but signaled it expected to boost interest rates two times by the end of 2023, earlier than Wall Street had anticipated. Treasury yields ended higher yesterday, as the 10-year holding around the 1.57% level (up roughly 8 bps prior to the Fed announcement). The number of Fed governors who expect rate hikes as early as 2022 – known as the dot plot – went to seven from four, essentially translating into two rate hikes in 2023 based on growth and inflation projections from the 18 members of the FOMC as the economy recovers rapidly from the effects of the pandemic and inflation heats up. Banking shares rally, however, as bond yields rise, with the 10-year Treasury hitting 1.55%. Chairman Jerome Powell also said officials discussed an eventual reduction of bond-buying, though the timing of such a move remains uncertain. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index dropped -272 points to 29,018, the Shanghai Index rose 7 points to 3,525, and the Hang Seng Index gained 121 points to settle at 28,558. In Europe, the German DAX is down around -20 points to 5,695, while the FTSE 100is down -30 points at 7,150. Precious metal prices are plunging with gold and silver down sharply as the U.S. dollar rebounds. Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index slipped -22.89 points, or 0.54%, to 4,223.70 The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -265.63 points, or 0.77%, to 34,033.67 The Nasdaq Composite dipped -33.22 points, or 0.24%, to 14,039.68 The Russell 2000 Index declined -5.38 points, or 0.23% to 2,314.69 Events Calendar for Today 8:30 AM ET Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 359K 8:30 AM EST Continuing Claims…est. 3.43M 8:30 AM EST Philly Fed Business Index for June…est. 31.0 10:00 AM EST Leading Index MoM for May…est. 1.3% 10:30 AM ET Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: $CMC, $JBL, $KR Earnings After the Close: $ADBE, $SWBI Other Key Events: Cowen Annual Future Health Conference (virtual), 6/16-6/17 Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference (virtual), 6/16-6/17 European Hematology Association (EHA) Virtual Meeting, 6/9-6/17 Macro Up/Down Last Nymex -0.07 72.08 Brent -0.10 74.29 Gold -10.10 1,801.35 EUR/USD -0.0063 1.1932 JPY/USD 0.05 110.76 10-Year Note -0.007 1.562% World News Brazil’s Central Bank raises rates by 75bps to 4.25% as expected; indicates it may do so again next meeting Swiss National Bank rates unchanged -0.75% as expected; Franc remains highly valued; prepared to intervene in FX markets; as necessary; 2021 GDP expected 3.5% vs. 2.5-3.0% previous Sector News Breakdown Consumer Lennar Corp. ($LEN) Q2 adj EPS $2.95 vs. est. 42.36; Q2 revs $6.4B vs. est. $5.91B; Deliveries of 14,493 homes, up 14%; new orders of 17,157 homes, up 32%; backlog of 24,741 homes, up 38% (backlog dollar value of $11.0 billion, up 56%); homebuilding net margins of $1.1 billion, compared to $655.1 million and gross margin on home sales of 26.1%, compared to 21.6% Honest Company ($HNST) 1Q adj EPS ($0.05) vs. est. ($0.06) on revs $81Mm vs. est. $79.3Mm; digital channel revenue increased 2% to $42.5 mln in q1 of 2021 compared to q1 of 2020 (downgraded to Neutral at Guggenheim) China’s market regulator has commenced an antitrust probe into Didi Chuxing as it prepares for a U.S. IPO, Reuters’ reported Energy, Industrials and Materials Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. ($NOG) announces core Permian basin bolt-on acquisitions of $102.2M; management intends to submit a request for a 50% increase to quarterly dividend; commenced underwritten public offering of 5 mln shares of its common stock Northern Oil and Gas ($NOG) 5M share Spot Secondary priced at $17.25 Culp Inc. ($CULP) Q4 adj EPS $0.11 on sales $79.1M vs. est. $0.08 and $66.1M; sees near-term headwinds temporarily pressuring business in FY22 The Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive for Boeing ($BA) requiring operators of 737 MAX airplanes to conduct additional inspections for the plane’s automated flight control system. The directive makes mandatory instructions released by Boeing in December that recommend that planes with more than 6,000 flight hours be subject to specific electronic checks. Financials The Justice Department said late Wednesday it would sue to stop insurance broker Aon’s ($AON) $30 billion bid for Willis Towers Watson ($WLTW) citing antitrust concerns. Shares of Arthur Gallagher ($AJG) shares fell – recall the co had agreed to buy assets from the two insurance brokers were selling in order to get antitrust approval in Europe Angel Oak Mortgage ($AOMR)2M share IPO priced at $19.00 The9 Limited ($NCTY) selects Coinbase Custody, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coinbase Global ($COIN) as the custodian for The9’s digital assets, including Bitcoin BNY Mellon ($BK) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette Northern Trust ($NTRS) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette Voya Financial ($VOYA) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi Healthcare CureVac ($CVAC) shares fell 45% after saying its COVID-19 vaccine was only 47% effective in a late-stage trial, missing the study’s main goal and throwing in doubt the potential delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to the European Union. C4 Therapeutics ($CCCC)25M share Secondary priced at $37.00 iSpecimen ($ISPC)25M share IPO priced at $8.00 Biogen Inc. ($BIIB) announced topline results from its Phase 2 TANGO study of gosuranemab (BIIB092), an investigational anti-tau antibody that was being evaluated as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Satsuma Pharmaceuticals ($STSA) announces positive pharmacokinetic, tolerability and safety results from phase 1 trial of sts101 at multiple dose strengths Tarsus Pharmaceuticals ($TARS) has initiated dosing participants in its first clinical trial for TP-05, a novel, oral, non-vaccine therapeutic for the prevention of Lyme disease. Lyell Immunopharma ($LYEL) 25M share IPO priced at $17.00 Verve Therapeutics ($VERV)04M share IPO priced at $19.00 Technology, Media & Telecom Baidu ($BIDU) is partnering with BAIC Group’s EV brand ARCFOX to jointly release Apollo Moon, a new generation of robotaxis that are set to be mass-produced with a per unit manufacturing price of RMB 480,000 Nokia ($NOK) to expedite rollout following the availability of a 3.5GHz spectrum; the improved services will offer premium 5G speeds to customers. Elbit Systems ($ESLT) subsidiary has been awarded two orders with an aggregate value of ~$29M by the US army’s program Urban One ($UONE) files to sell 2.93M shares of Class A common stock for holders

RECAP 4/13 Chatter: $HLIT + For Sale (DR) $YNDX - RUS Anti-monopoly $RBLX + $HAS P-ship $BA + Bookings $SLGG + Insider Buy $NET+ $NVDA AI P-ship $WLTW - $AON Concessions maybe not enough $LRN + $41 bid (Betaville) $MSFT - NSA Email Flaws $SOS - Active SEC Investigation

Para darles una revisada: $EQIX $PEN $KMB $WLTW $ICLR $ANTM