About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2018)
0D BUSINESS Jeff Gill | Business reporter 770-718-3408 | jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Tuesday, December 18, 2018 Silicon Valley expands All bets are off after For the Associated Press This rendering shows a building conceived by COOKFOX architects at 550 Washington St. to house an expansion by Google on Manhattan’s west side at the site of the former St. John’s Terminal. Google plans $1B office complex in New York City BY MAE ANDERSON Associated Press Silicon Valley is becoming Silicon Nation. Google announced Monday it will spend more than $1 bil lion to build a new office com plex in New York City that will allow the internet search giant to double the number of people it employs there. It is the tech industry’s lat est major expansion beyond the Seattle-San Francisco Bay corridor. It follows recent steps by Amazon and Apple to set up large operations well outside their home turf. Tech companies are “com ing to the realization that the Bay Area, which has tradition ally been the major center of tech activity in the U.S., is get ting expensive and crowded,” said Andrew Bartels, principal analyst at Forrester Research. “A lot of vendors are com ing to the realization that ‘We can probably find top talent elsewhere at a more afford able costs, and perhaps a bet ter style of life for employees who may be struggling to make ends meet.’” The Northeast is attractive because of its large concentra tion of highly educated young people. New York in particu lar also offers proximity to Wall Street and already has the second-biggest concentra tion of tech startups behind the Bay Area and a large base of tech employees, Bartels said. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, has over 2,000 employees in New York. Google, based in Mountain View, California, will fashion a complex of more than 1.7 mil lion square feet along the Hud son River in the city’s West Village neighborhood, Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said in a blog post. Google opened its first office in New York nearly 20 years ago and now employs 7,000 people in the city. Its footprint is expanding rapidly. Google said earlier this year that it would buy the Chel sea Market building for $2.4 billion and planned to lease more space at Pier 57, both along the Hudson about a mile north of the newly announced complex. Porat telegraphed Google’s plans to double down in New York a month ago during a technology conference. “Not everybody — big sur prise — wants to live in Silicon Valley, so we want to make sure we have the opportunity to build vibrant centers across the country,” she said. The news follows Seattle- based Amazon’s announce ment a month ago that it would set up new headquarters in New York’s Long Island City neighborhood and in Arling ton, Virginia, creating upwards of 25,000 jobs in each location. But it’s not just the East Coast that is benefiting from the expansion. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, said last week that it plans to build a $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, that will create at least 5,000 jobs. Fed’s likely rate hike BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER Associated Press WASHINGTON — Having raised interest rates with steady regularity in recent months, the Federal Reserve may embrace a new message this week: Flexibility. On Wednesday, the Fed is set to announce its fourth rate hike of the year. But after this week, no one is sure what it will do. Neither, most likely, is the Fed itself. A confluence of factors — a global slow down, a U.S.-China trade war, still-mild infla tion, stomach-churning drops in stock prices — may have left Fed officials weighing a shift in policy. Many analysts think the Fed will sig nal Wednesday that it’s considering whether to slow or suspend its rate hikes in 2019 to avoid weakening the economy too much. And some predict that the rate increases, which began three years ago, will end altogether next year. In September, Fed officials collectively forecast that they would raise rates three times in 2019. But this week, in the view of many analysts, the central bank could indi cate that no more than two rate hikes are likely next year. Yet the overarching message — in a statement after its latest policy meeting, in updated forecasts for the economy and interest rates and in a news conference by Chairman Jerome Powell — may be that the Fed plans to suit its rate policy to the lat est economic data. In Fed parlance, it will be “ data-dependent. ” The idea, some analysts say, is that the Fed may want to pause in its credit-tightening to assess how the economy fares in the com ing months in light of the headwinds it faces. Contributing to this view was a speech Powell gave last month in which he suggested that rates appear to be just below the level the Fed calls “neutral,” where they’re believed to nei ther stimulate growth nor impede it. Powell’s observation suggested that the Fed might be poised to soon slow or halt its rate hikes. For now, most U.S. economic barometers are still showing strength. The unemploy ment rate is 3.7 percent, a 49-year low. The economy is thought to have grown close to 3 percent this year, its best performance in more than a decade. Health insurance on demand? Some are betting on it Nancy Buchholz holds her husband Jeff’s picture, who died six weeks after being diagnosed with cancer this spring. BY TOM MURPHY Associated Press People with health insur ance often pay for coverage they never use. A startup trend wants to shake that up. It’s a radical idea: On- demand insurance that lets customers buy some of their coverage only if and when they need it, similar to how TV viewers might rent a new release from Amazon instead of paying every month for a pricey cable package they rarely use. This approach from Bind Benefits is one of the latest wrinkles in a yearslong push by companies and insurers to control costs and make patients smarter health care shoppers. And it’s drawing attention from the nation’s largest health insurer, Unit- edHealthcare, and some sizeable employers. “It’s the sort of thing we need entrepreneurs to be doing,” said Robert Lasze- STACY BENGS I Associated Press wski, a health care consul tant and former insurance executive. “We haven’t had a new idea in managed care in I don’t know how long.” Bind’s plan draws concern from researchers worried about how this may hurt some pocketbooks, but it also has attracted employ ers hungry for a fresh way to tame expenses. School superintendent Barry Rose picked Bind as the only coverage option earlier this year for the Cumberland, Wisconsin, school district after cycling through numerous health plans in the last six years. Rose said about two-thirds of his workers use $500 or less in health care every year, and he didn’t want to charge them premiums for care they weren’t using. “We have quality health care. If people need it, great. If they don’t, at least we’re not soaking them for it,” he said. Minneapolis-based Bind is not an insurer, but it designs health plans for big employ ers that pay their own bills. Here’s how it works. Under Bind’s plan, custom ers pay a base monthly pre mium that can be as much as 40 percent cheaper than other options their employer offers, the company says. That covers most care, like doctor visits, hospital stays, maternity care, cancer treatment and prescriptions. A patient can then buy additional coverage for some procedures that aren’t urgent like a knee surgery or hip replacement. In these cases, the patient has time to plan for the care and look at different options for who performs it. The additional coverage comes with an extra pre mium and possibly a copay ment, depending on the care provider and what is being purchased. In these cases, patients might get stuck pay ing more than $1,000 in addi tional costs. Users log onto Bind’s website or app to see what is covered, what it will cost them. That can vary based on Bind’s quality rating for a provider and how efficiently it provides care. Someone with an ear infection might pay nothing for a telemedi cine visit. But a trip to an expensive emergency room for such a minor illness might cost a few hundred dollars. “If we get everyone buy ing better, we actually make the product more affordable for all of us,” said Bind CEO Tony Miller. Stock Exchange Highlights ■ NYSE 11,532.12 -223.27 B Nasdaq W 6,753.73 -156.93 Gainers ($2 or more) Gainers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg Name Last Chg %Chg Coeur 4.37 +.55 +14.4 Pretium g 8.20 +.78 +10.5 Starret 6.08 +.48 +8.6 Calyxtn 12.23 +2.35 +23.8 HF Foods n 14.49 +2.38 +19.6 electCore n 4.96 +.75 +17.8 Yamana g 2.30 AlamosGId 3.19 Buenavent 15.82 IndCDrillg 3.22 HeclaM 2.45 InsprMed n 43.79 NavMH pfH 3.60 +.18 +.22 +1.08 +.22 +.15 +2.43 +.20 +8.5 +7.4 +7.3 +7.3 +6.5 +5.9 +5.9 Losers (S2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg 27.51 12.26 3.39 21.29 3.01 CincB pfB Pyxuslnt CmtyHIt Xerox rs CedarRIty Farfetch n 21.01 DrxREBull S18.63 Zuoran 16.15 SunlOnl n 2.66 Huya n 16.40 -5.99 -17.9 -2.25 -15.5 -.53 -13.5 -3.16 -12.9 -.42 -12.2 -2.87 -12.0 -2.42 -11.5 -2.09 -11.5 -.32 -10.7 -1.90 -10.4 Most Active ($1 on more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg GenElec 1273110 BkofAm 985033 FordM 442368 AT&T Inc 421189 ChesEng 409478 JohnJn 368207 Pfizer 366025 Oracle 299032 WellsFargo 292983 NokiaCp 265763 7.15 +.05 24.47 -.01 8.50 -.02 29.86 -.36 2.25 -.08 129.14 -3.86 43.11 -.69 45.73 -.87 46.61 +.07 5.87 -.07 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 367 2,487 41 2,895 5 843 4,545,490,913 FidelSo 24.82 EvofemBio 4.05 RealmTh n 2.19 NewAgeB n 6.65 Uxin Ltd n 8.40 Reliv In rs 4.40 YRCWwde 3.50 +3.40 +15.9 +.51 +14.4 +.27 +14.1 +.71 +12.0 +.90 +12.0 +.44 +11.0 +.33 +10.4 Losers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg DovaPh n NF EngSv PLX Phr rs AdialPh n Achillion Overstk XTL Bio rs InnovBio rs PepperFd n 6.43 TymeTch n 3.24 9.01 10.67 2.77 2.80 2.40 13.51 2.00 2.35 -5.80 -6.33 -1.05 -1.00 -.71 -3.71 -.45 -.48 -1.27 -.62 -39.2 -37.2 -27.4 -26.3 -22.8 -21.5 -18.4 -17.0 -16.5 -16.1 Most Active ($1 or more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg AMD 1150347 18.83 Microsoft 568094 102.89 Apple Inc 432291 163.94 Cisco 356500 44.20 MicronT 307296 NewAgeB n265035 Intel 263654 SiriusXM 246766 Facebook 238284 140.19 Comcast s 202705 36.21 33.88 6.65 47.08 6.12 -1.07 -3.14 -1.54 -1.62 -.32 +.71 -.78 -.05 -3.87 -.13 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 548 2,415 103 3,066 12 699 2,597,410,467 Stocks of Local Interest Name Ex YTD Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg AFLAC s 1.04 2.3 14 44.32 -.29 0.0 IBM 6.28 5.4 9 116.10 -3.80 -24.3 AT&T Inc 2.04 6.8 6 29.86 -.36 -23.2 JPMorgCh 2.24 2.3 13 99.01 -1.28 -7.4 AbbottLab 1.28 1.8 30 69.75 -1.01 +22.2 JohnJn 3.60 2.8 18 129.14 -3.86 -7.6 AMD 18.83 -1.07 +83.2 Kinross g 23 3.01 +.13 -30.3 Altria 3.44 6.6 17 52.35 -.38 -26.7 Lowes 1.92 2.1 20 90.45 -2.91 -2.7 Apple Inc 2.92 1.8 17 163.94 -1.54 -3.1 McDnlds 4.64 2.6 27 180.79 -2.50 +5.0 ATMOS 1.94 2.0 18 95.56 -2.91 +11.3 Merck 2.20 2.9 28 75.23 -1.25 +33.7 AutoZone 17 854.18-17.06 +20.1 MicronT 3 33.88 -.32 -17.6 AveryD 2.26 2.5 25 89.17 -2.03 -22.4 Microsoft 1.84 1.8 43 102.89 -3.14 +20.3 BB&T Cp 1.62 3.6 13 45.15 -.51 -9.2 NewAgeB n ... 6.65 +.71+206.5 BP PLC 2.38 6.2 11 38.41 -.25 -8.6 NorflkSo 3.20 2.2 22 147.58 -3.30 +1.8 BkofAm .60 2.5 12 24.47 -.01 -17.1 OfficeDpt .10 3.9 7 2.58 -.17 -27.1 BarnesNob .60 9.2 6.49 ... -3.1 Oracle .76 1.7 49 45.73 -.87 -3.3 BarrickG .12 .9 76 13.65 -.01 -5.7 Penney 1.20 ... -62.0 Boeing 6.84 2.2 29 316.13 -2.62 +7.2 PepsiCo 3.71 3.3 33 112.87 -1.08 -5.9 BrMySq 1.64 3.2 50 50.92 -1.20 -16.9 Pfizer 1.44 3.3 17 43.11 -.69 +19.0 CSX .88 1.4 9 64.68 -1.15 +17.6 PhilipMor 4.56 5.6 20 81.40 -1.10 -23.0 CampSp 1.40 3.6 14 38.83 -.33 -19.3 Primerica 1.00 1.0 12 101.78 +.81 +.2 Caterpillar 3.44 2.8 12 124.47 -2.30 -21.0 ProctGam 2.87 3.1 23 92.77 -3.87 +1.0 ChesEng 4 2.25 -.08 -43.2 RegionsFn .56 4.2 11 13.39 -.08 -22.5 Chevron 4.48 4.0 23 112.45 -1.38 -10.2 SiriusXM .05 .8 34 6.12 -.05 +14.2 Cisco 1.32 3.0 22 44.20 -1.62 +15.4 SnapIncAn ... 5.58 -.34 -61.8 Citigroup 1.80 3.3 9 54.25 -.77 -27.1 SouthnCo 2.40 5.2 22 46.00 -1.33 -4.3 CocaCola 1.56 3.2 91 48.33 -1.01 +5.3 SwstnEngy 4 3.62 -.18 -35.1 ConAgra .85 2.9 14 29.01 -.88 -23.0 SunTrst 2.00 3.9 9 51.79 -.39 -19.8 Cummins 4.56 3.5 37 131.45 -2.39 -25.6 SynrgyPh .12 +.04 -94.6 Disney 1.76 1.6 15 110.62 -1.58 +2.9 SynovusFn 1.00 3.1 11 31.86 -.34 -33.5 DowDuPnt 1.52 2.9 16 51.68 -1.10 -27.4 3M Co 5.44 2.8 27 192.82 -3.28 -18.1 Equifax 1.56 1.6 17 97.24 +.06 -17.5 Torchmark .64 .8 6 75.89 -1.25 -16.3 ExxonMbl 3.28 4.4 14 74.04 -1.54 -11.5 Transocn 7.31 -.25 -31.6 Facebook 26 140.19 -3.87 -20.6 Twitter 33.43 -2.44 +39.2 FordM .60 7.1 4 8.50 -.02 -31.9 Tyson 1.20 2.2 10 53.47 -1.83 -34.0 GenElec .04 .6 7.15 +.05 -59.1 UtdCmBks .64 2.9 13 22.03 -.20 -21.7 GenuPrt 2.88 3.0 21 96.50 -2.40 +1.6 UPS B 3.64 3.8 16 96.87 -1.79 -18.7 Globalstar .36 +.06 -72.4 VerizonCm 2.41 4.3 7 55.95 -1.13 +5.7 HP Inc .64 3.0 7 21.42 -.59 +2.0 Vodafone 1.74 8.7 20.01 -.11 -37.3 Haverty .72 3.8 20 19.18 -.06 -15.3 WalMart 2.08 2.3 52 90.77 -1.08 -8.1 HeliosM rs .01 -.00-100.0 Weathflntl .38 -.05 -90.9 Hershey 2.89 2.7 23 105.17 -2.70 -7.3 WeisMk 1.24 2.7 11 45.81 +.12 +10.7 HomeDp 4.12 2.5 18 167.97 -4.32 -11.4 WellsFargo 1.72 3.7 11 46.61 +.07 -23.2 Intel 1.20 2.5 18 47.08 -.78 +2.0 YumBrnds 1.44 1.6 32 89.71 -1.99 +9.9 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: 23,592.98 Change:-507.53 (-2.1%) 27,000 26,000 25,000 24,000 26,000 n 24,720 23,440 10 DAYS J J A S 0 N D 52-Week Net YTD 12-mo High Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg 26,951.81 23,344.52 Dow Industrials 23,592.98 -507.53 -2.11 -4.56 -4.84 11,623.58 9,485.95 Dow Transportation 9,403.53 -110.58 -1.16 -11.39 -10.63 762.97 647.81 Dow Utilities 732.21 -25.64 -3.38 +1.22 -1.83 13,637.02 11,696.58 NYSE Composite 11,532.12 -223.27 -1.90 -9.97 -9.81 8,133.30 6,630.67 Nasdaq Composite 6,753.73 -156.93 -2.27 -2.17 -3.45 1,309.73 1,118.69 S&P 100 1,130.63 -22.96 -1.99 -4.44 -5.17 2,940.91 2,532.69 S&P 500 2,545.94 -54.01 -2.08 -4.78 -5.36 2,053.00 1,727.85 S&P MidCap 1,694.31 -38.50 -2.22 -10.85 -11.07 30,560.54 26,293.62 Wilshire 5000 26,160.16 -589.18 -2.20 -5.88 -6.14 1,742.09 1,407.11 Russell 2000 1,378.14 -32.67 -2.32 -10.25 -11.03 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 253,238 234.90 -6.8 -3.0/B +9.6/A NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxAdmrl LB 203,888 63.38 -7.0 -3.6/B +9.0/A NL 3,000 Fidelity 500ldxlnsPrm LB 164,099 88.51 -6.8 -3.0/A +9.6/A NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxInv LB 129,896 63.35 -7.0 -3.7/B +8.9/B NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInv FB 128,269 15.37 -4.5 12.2/B +1.8/B NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxIns LB 123,279 63.40 -7.0 -3.6/B +9.1/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard Insldxlns LB 116,738 232.99 -6.8 -3.0/A +9.6/A NL 5 ,000,000 Vanguard InsIdxInsPlus LB 104,731 233.01 -6.8 -3.0/A +9.6/A NL100,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInsPlus FB 95,758 102.83 -4.5 -12.2/B +1.9/A NL100,000,000 Fidelity Contrafund LG 91,616 11.06 -5.9 -2.2/C +10.2/B NL 0 Vanguard TtBMIdxAdmrl Cl 86,606 10.38 +1.2 -1.0/B +2.2/C NL 3,000 Vanguard WlngtnAdmrl MA 86,207 69.16 -3.8 -2.5/A +7.0/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.
