About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2018)
BD BUSINESS Jeff Gill | Business reporter 770-718-3408 | jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Friday, November 16, 2018 FDA eyes flavored vapes JEFF CHIU I Associated Press Packs of menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products at a store in San Francisco. On Thursday, Nov. 15, FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb pledged to ban menthol from cigarettes, in what could be a major step to further push down U.S. smoking rates. Government wants tighter rules on selling flavored e-cigarettes to kids BY MIKE STOBBE Associated Press NEW YORK — In a major new effort to curb smoking, a top U.S. health official pledged Thursday to try to ban menthol cigarettes and fla vored cigars and tighten rules govern ing the sale of most flavored versions of electronic cigarettes. The proposed restrictions were aimed mainly at reducing smoking in kids: About half of teens who smoke cigarettes choose menthols, and fla vored e-cigarettes have been blamed for a recent increase in teen vaping rates. “I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes,” Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said in a statement. Health advocates say a menthol ban would have greater impact on the health of Americans, but it would probably take years to put in place. The changes for e-cigarettes could kick in within a few months. Battery-powered e-cigarettes are more popular among teens than regu lar smokes and are considered safer. But many versions contain poten tially addictive nicotine, and health officials believe they set kids who try them on a path toward regular cigarettes. Gottlieb called for additional steps to prevent the marketing of e-cig- arettes directly to kids and online sales to minors. He also proposed beefing up measures to ensure that convenience stores and some other retailers do not sell e-cigarettes in kid-friendly flavors such as cherry and vanilla. They could still be sold in vape shops or other businesses that do not admit minors. Smoking is the nation’s leading cause of preventable illness, causing more than 480,000 deaths each year. The FDA currently bans sales of e-cig- arettes and tobacco products to those under 18. In 2009, the government banned a number of kid-friendly flavorings in cigarettes. But after an aggressive lob bying effort by tobacco companies, menthol was exempted. Gottlieb’s proposal for e-cigarette flavorings also exempts menthol. He said menthol e-cigarettes may be an option for adults who turn to vaping products to quit regular cigarettes, and he decided not to push for an end to menthol flavoring in vaping products. Smoking has been declining for more than five decades. Some 42 per cent of U.S. adults smoked in the early 1960s. Last year, the rate was down to 14 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts credit anti-smoking cam paigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans for most of the decline in the adult rate. But some say adult smok ers switching to e-cigarettes have also helped in recent years. The cigarette smoking rate is even lower among high school students — about 9 percent, according to the lat est figures. But e-cigarette use jumped 78 percent this year among U.S. high school kids and 48 percent among middle school kids, Gottlieb said. He cited a survey this past spring of more than 20,000 middle and high school students. About 21 percent of high schoolers said they had vaped recently, and 5 percent of middle schoolers said they had. Tests show electronic driving systems can fail BY TOM KRISHER Associated Press DETROIT — Testing by AAA shows that electronic driver assist systems on the road today may not keep vehicles in their lanes or spot stationary objects in time to avoid a crash. The tests brought a warning from the auto club that drivers shouldn’t think that the systems make their vehicles self-driv ing, and that they should always be ready to take control. AAA also said that use of the word “pilot” by auto makers in naming their systems can make some owners believe the vehi cles can drive themselves. “These systems are made as an aid to driving, they are not autonomous, despite all of the hype around vehicle auton omy,” said Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of automo tive engineering. “Clearly having ‘pilot’ in the name may imply a level of unaided driving, which is not correct for the current state of the development of these systems.” The test results released Thursday come after sev eral highly publicized crashes involving Tesla vehicles that were operat ing on the company’s sys tem named “Autopilot.” The National Transporta tion Safety Board is investi gating some of the crashes, including a March fatality that involved a Model X that struck a freeway bar rier near Mountain View, California. The AAA findings are the second tests show ing that the systems can’t handle every situation in real-world driving, includ ing some that are rela tively common. In August, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released tests that showed similar problems to the AAA study. The auto club tested the systems on four vehicles that had adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and automatic emer gency braking. Vehicles tested included the 2018 Mercedes-Benz S Class, the 2018 Nissan Rogue, a 2017 Tesla Model S and a 2019 Volvo XC40. In addition to Tesla’s Autopilot, Volvo calls its system “Pilot Assist,” while Nissan’s is named “ProPilot Assist.” Automakers gener ally say they tell drivers that their cars aren’t fully self-driving and that they should always be alert and ready to intervene. AAA says the vehicles drifted out of lanes and hugged lane markers, struggling with moder ate traffic, curved roads and streets with busy intersections. Three of the four would have failed to avoid a crash when the vehicle ahead of them changed lanes and a simulated stopped vehicle was ahead. “As a result we had to take evasive action,” said Brannon. Only the Tesla system brought the vehicle to a complete stop in all five track test runs, but driver intervention was needed for the others, the AAA report said. China: Talks with US on trade battle have resumed Associated Press BEIJING — Washington and Beijing have resumed talks over their spiraling trade dispute ahead of a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday. The two sides are “maintaining close contact” following a Nov. 1 phone call between Xi and Trump, said ministry spokesman Gao Feng. He gave no details of the content of the talks or which officials were conducting them. The two governments have raised tariffs on billions of dol lars of each other’s goods in a dispute over Beijing’s technol ogy policy. “High-level contacts between the two sides on economics and trade have resumed following the Nov. 1 conversation between the Chinese and American heads of state,” said Gao. “The work team is maintaining close contact to earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state.” Xi and Trump are due to meet this month at a gathering of the Group of 20 major economies in Argentina. China’s leaders agreed earlier to narrow their country’s politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States but have rejected pressure to roll back plans for state-led develop ment of Chinese champions in robotics and other industries. Washington, Europe and other trading partners say those plans violate Beijing’s market-opening obligations, but Chinese leaders see them as a route to prosperity and global influence. The Trump administration hiked tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology as the price of market access. Some American officials also worry Chinese development plans could erode U.S. industrial leadership. Beijing responded with penalty duties on $110 billion of American goods, but their lopsided trade balance means China is running out of imports for retaliation. Regulators have expanded their pressure by slowing down customs clear ance for U.S. companies and postponing issuing licenses in finance and other industries. Chinese exports to the United States have held up despite the tariffs, rising more than 13 percent over a year earlier each month since the first increases in July. Economists say that is partly due to exporters rushing to fill orders before a new increase takes effect in January, but U.S. demand should decline next year. Vice President Mike Pence told The Washington Post news paper the U.S. could make deals with China at the G-20 but Beijing must offer concessions on technology transfer, theft of intellectual property and other issues. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said Thursday it wasn’t clear whether Pence expressed the Trump administration’s position or his personal opinion. Washington should “respect China’s sovereignty, security and development interest, as well as the path of development chosen by the Chinese people,” said the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying. NEW YORK JC Penney withdraws profit guidance, cuts sales outlook J.C. Penney withdrew its profit guidance and lowered its sales expectations for the year, leading to a big drop in its stock in early trading before shares recovered. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retail er’s health, declined 5.4 percent during the third quarter. That was much worse than the analysts’ prediction of a 0.5 percent decline, according to FactSet. J.C. Penney’s poor performance is an outlier at a time when the strong economy is helping retail ers from Walmart to Home Depot. Many are also benefiting from struggling peers like Sears or Bon-Ton who are either fad ing or going out of business. They’re heavily investing in online services and bolstering their merchandise assortment. Instead, Penney has been floundering, weighed down by debt that limits how much it can aggressively reinvent its operations. J.C. Penney said Thursday it withdrew guidance because its new CEO and interim CFO need more time to look over opera tions. The poor performance underscores big challenges for Jill Soltau, the former Jo-Ann’s Stores CEO who was named to Penney’s top post last month. Soltau succeeded Marvin Ellison, who left this past summer after less than four years to take the top job at home improvement chain Lowe’s. In October, Penney appointed Michael Fung as interim CFO. He succeeded Jerry Murray, who remains senior vice president of finance. During a conference call with analysts, Soltau said she would be assessing many areas from promotions to merchandise strat egies in the store and online. Associated Press Stock Exchange Highlights ft NYSE 12,361.50 +86.01 Gainers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg Smart&Fnl ArmsFloor Switch n RedLionH SibanyeG Voxeljet BerryPlas QntmDSS rs 2.97 Civeo 2.20 BBVABFrn 12.50 6.70 16.70 7.87 8.73 2.60 2.82 50.31 +1.75 +35.4 +1.87 +12.6 +.80 +11.3 +.87 +11.1 +.26 +11.1 +.27 +10.6 +4.41 +9.6 +.26 +9.6 +.18 +8.9 +1.00 +8.7 Losers (S2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg RYBEdun 7.83 PG&E Cp 17.74 US NGas rs31.80 BrghtSch n 10.57 iPthNtGs n 53.83 KB Home 17.61 Dillards 62.85 Luxoft 33.30 Edisonlnt 47.19 DxSOXBr rs11.83 -8.82 -53.0 -7.85 -30.7 -7.52 -19.1 -2.12 -16.7 -10.06 -15.7 -3.19 -15.3 -10.94 -14.8 -5.45 -14.1 -6.68 -12.4 -1.32 -10.0 Most Active ($1 on more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg GenElec PG&E Cp BkofAm FordM EnCana g Penney AT&T Inc Alibaba ChesEng Coty 1263234 1051070 661426 567869 429028 395027 385007 300264 278939 266073 8.17 -.15 17.74 -7.85 27.90 +.69 9.31 -.23 7.77 1.36 +.14 30.12 -.39 156.22 +5.78 3.73 +.06 8.71 +.01 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 1,646 1,180 78 2,904 15 221 4,117,183,276 Gainers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg UniQure 30.93 TransIBio n 7.33 NewAgeB n 3.86 ArenaPh rs 39.55 ApolMed n 22.60 PHI nv 4.92 NF EngSv 7.22 Onconva rs 4.25 AvidTech 6.66 Ziopharm 3.08 +8.13 +35.7 +1.42 +24.0 +.73 +23.3 +7.03 +21.6 +3.83 +20.4 +.80 +19.4 +1.09 +17.8 +.55 +14.9 +.86 +14.8 +.38 +14.1 Losers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg Sphr3Dgrs 2.08 Siriuslntn 13.31 Purpllnv n 4.75 Boxlight n 2.03 AptevoTh n 2.68 Helius Med n8.03 SORL 3.32 MarinSft rs 2.47 PhaseBio n 3.24 RetoEco n 2.60 -.53 -20.3 -2.69 -16.8 -.76 -13.8 -.32 -13.6 -.42 -13.5 -1.21 -13.1 -.50 -13.1 -.37 -12.9 -.47 -12.7 -.37 -12.5 Most Active ($1 or more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg AMD 963773 Apple Inc 462108 Cisco 458280 AGNC Inv 452442 Microsoft 382213 SiriusXM 310671 MicronT 298888 Facebook 297900 Intel 286750 NewAgeB n273932 21.49 +.68 191.41 +4.61 46.77 +2.44 17.37 -.41 107.28 +2.31 6.32 +.07 39.91 +1.88 143.85 -.37 48.11 +1.02 3.86 +.73 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 1,999 937 139 3,075 19 180 2,373,008,894 Stocks of Local Interest Name Ex YTD Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg AFLAC S 1.04 2.3 14 44.27 +.32 0.0 Hershey 2.89 2.7 24 108.41 +.46 -4.5 AGNC Inv 2.16 12.4 5 17.37 -.41 -14.0 HomeDp 4.12 2.3 19 177.36 -2.54 -6.4 AT&T Inc 2.00 6.6 6 30.12 -.39 -22.5 Intel 1.20 2.5 18 48.11 +1.02 +4.2 AbbottLab 1.12 1.6 30 70.73 +1.32 +23.9 IBM 6.28 5.2 9 121.44 +1.24 -20.8 AMD 21.49 +.68+109.0 JohnJn 3.60 2.5 20 144.50 +.25 +3.4 Altria 3.20 5.6 18 57.28 -1.82 -19.8 Lowes 1.92 2.0 20 93.68 -1.23 +.8 Apple Inc 2.92 1.5 22 191.41 +4.61 +13.1 McDnlds 4.64 2.5 28 183.56 -.29 +6.6 ATMOS 1.94 2.0 18 98.91 +1.62 +15.2 Merck 2.20 2.9 28 74.84 +.75 +33.0 AutoZone 17 810.04 -13.26 +13.9 MicronT 3 39.91 +1.88 -2.9 AveryD 2.26 2.5 26 92.02 +.40 -19.9 Microsoft 1.84 1.7 45 107.28 +2.31 +25.4 BB&T Cp 1.62 3.2 15 51.33 +.81 +3.2 NewAgeB n ... 3.86 +.73 +77.9 BP PLC 2.38 5.8 12 41.16 +.83 -2.1 NorflkSo 3.20 1.9 26 172.88 +5.48 +19.3 BkofAm .60 2.2 13 27.90 +.69 -5.5 OfficeDpt .10 3.2 9 3.10 -.03 -12.4 BarnesNob .60 8.7 6.92 +.02 +3.3 Oracle .76 1.5 54 50.63 +1.79 +7.1 Boeing 6.84 2.0 32 341.57 -3.15 +15.8 PG&E Cp 2.12 12.0 3 17.74 -7.85 -60.4 BrMySq 1.60 3.0 53 53.27 +.68 -13.1 Penney 23 1.36 +.14 -57.0 CSX .88 1.2 10 72.22 +1.72 +31.3 PepsiCo 3.71 3.2 34 116.80 +.15 -2.6 CampSp 1.40 3.6 14 39.12 -.04 -18.7 Pfizer 1.36 3.1 17 43.21 +.30 +19.3 Caterpillar 3.44 2.7 12 129.42 +4.32 -17.9 PhilipMor 4.56 5.3 21 85.83 +.33 -18.8 ChesEng 6 3.73 +.06 -5.8 Primerica 1.00 .9 14 117.46 +1.43 +15.7 Chevron 4.48 3.8 24 116.95 +1.34 -6.6 ProctGam 2.87 3.1 23 93.83 +.34 +2.1 Cisco 1.32 2.8 24 46.77 +2.44 +22.1 RegionsFn .56 3.4 14 16.45 +.08 -4.8 Citigroup 1.80 2.8 11 64.60 +1.10 -13.2 SiriusXM .05 .8 35 6.32 +.07 +17.9 CocaCola 1.56 3.1 94 49.74 -.02 +8.4 SouthnCo 2.40 5.1 22 47.18 -.22 -1.9 Comcast s .76 2.0 18 38.49 +.20 -3.5 SwstnEngy 7 5.45 -.28 -2.3 ConAgra .85 2.6 16 32.42 -.22 -13.9 Sprint 4 6.12 -.03 +3.9 Coty .50 5.7 8.71 +.01 -56.2 SunTrst 2.00 3.2 11 63.20 +.66 -2.2 Cummins 4.56 3.1 41 147.46 +1.62 -16.5 SynovusFn 1.00 2.7 13 37.51 +.65 -21.8 Disney 1.68 1.4 16 117.11 -.01 +8.9 3M Co 5.44 2.7 28 204.91 +6.85 -12.9 DowDuPnt 1.52 2.6 19 58.73 +.75 -17.5 Torchmark .64 .7 7 86.52 +.07 -4.6 EnCana g .06 .8 13 7.77 ... -41.7 Tyson 1.20 2.0 11 59.03 +.27 -27.2 Equifax 1.56 1.6 17 99.63 +1.90 -15.5 UtdCmBks .64 2.5 15 25.68 +.52 -8.7 ExxonMbl 3.28 4.2 14 78.19 +.80 -6.5 UPS B 3.64 3.3 19 110.45 +.95 -7.3 Facebook 27 143.85 -.37 -18.5 VICI Pr n .71 3.4 21.13 -.31 +1.1 FordM .60 6.4 5 9.31 -.23 -25.5 VerizonCm 2.41 4.1 8 59.08 +.14 +11.6 FrptMcM .20 1.7 8 11.96 +.42 -36.9 Vodafone 1.74 8.8 19.87 -.50 -37.7 GenElec .48 5.9 8.17 -.15 -53.2 WalMart 2.08 2.1 24 99.54 -1.99 +.8 GenuPrt 2.88 2.8 22 101.59 -.28 +6.9 Weathflntl .85 -.01 -79.7 HP Inc .64 2.7 9 24.17 +.44 +15.0 WeisMk 1.24 2.6 11 47.38 +.36 +14.5 Haverty .72 3.4 22 21.16 +.22 -6.6 WellsFargo 1.72 3.3 13 52.82 +.67 -12.9 HeliosM rs .02 -.00-100.0 YumBrnds 1.44 1.6 32 88.79 -.39 +8.8 Name Ex YTD Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars, h = Does not meet continued-listing standards. If = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks, pf = Preferred, rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year, rt = Right to buy security at a specified price, s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year, un = Units, vj = In bankruptcy or receivership, wd = When distributed, wi = When issued, wt = Warrants. Fund Footnotes: m - Multiple fees are charged, usually a marketing fee and either a sales or redemption fee. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial. Stock Market Indexes Dow Jones industrials Close: 25,289.27 Change: 208.77 (0.8%) 27,200 26,400 25,600 24,800 26,280 25,520 # 24,760 10 DAYS M J J A S 0 N 52-Week Net YTD 12-mo High Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg 26,951.81 23,242.75 Dow Industrials 25,289.27 +208.77 +.83 +2.31 +7.80 11,623.58 9,420.16 Dow Transportation 10,615.30 +158.69 +1.52 +.03 +10.66 778.80 647.81 Dow Utilities 715.02 -9.55 -1.32 -1.15 -6.43 13,637.02 11,820.33 NYSE Composite 12,361.50 +86.01 +.70 -3.49 +.47 8,133.30 6,630.67 Nasdaq Composite 7,259.03 +122.64 +1.72 +5.15 +6.86 1,309.73 1,118.69 S&P 100 1,212.59 +12.82 +1.07 +2.49 +6.38 2,940.91 2,532.69 S&P 500 2,730.20 +28.62 +1.06 +2.12 +5.59 2,053.00 1,769.25 S&P MidCap 1,863.03 +21.41 +1.16 -1.98 +1.45 30,560.54 26,293.62 Wilshire 5000 28,158.86 +305.08 +1.10 +1.31 +4.87 1,742.09 1,436.43 Russell 2000 1,524.12 +21.61 +1.44 -.74 +2.50 Mutual Funds Name Total Assets Obj ($Mlns) NAV Total Return/Rank 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Pet Load Min Init Invt Vanguard 500ldxAdmrl LB 247,729 252.78 -0.6 +8.5/B +10.9/A NL 10,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxAdmrl LB 199,057 68.02 -0.7 +8.1/B +10.5/A NL 10,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxinv LB 127,316 67.99 -0.7 +7.9/B +10.3/B NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInv FB 126,316 16.07 -1.0 -6.5/B +2.1/B NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxins LB 119,661 68.04 -0.7 +8.1/B +10.5/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard Insldxlns LB 116,372 249.39 -0.6 +8.5/B +10.9/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard InsIdxinsPlus LB 101,648 249.40 -0.6 +8.5/B +11.0/A NL100,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInsPlus FB 94,240 107.54 -1.0 -6.4/B +2.3/B NL100,000,000 Fidelity Contrafund LG 91,385 12.65 -2.8 +7.6/D +11.6/B NL 0 Vanguard TtBMIdxAdmrl Cl 85,528 10.26 0.0 -2.0/C +1.9/C NL 10,000 Fidelity 500ldxlnsPrm LB 84,712 95.66 -0.6 +8.5/B +11.0/A NL 0 Vanguard WlngtnAdmrl MA 84,654 71.62 +0.4 +4.2/A +7.5/A NL 50,000 Cl -Intermediate-Term Bond, FB -Foreign Large Blend, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA -Moderate Allocation, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.
