Diamonds and Dogs

4/16/18

Charles Schwab (SCHW) one of the few financials trading higher. Schwab is up 2.5% thanks to strong earnings up 39% year over year. Trading activity in the first quarter jumped 40% year over year, while new accounts totaled 443,000, the highest quarterly level in 18 years. New customers for its retail business jumped 42% year over year. Schwab also reported net new assets of $65.6 billion, which the company says implied an annualized growth rate of 7.8%, a level it hasn't seen since 2008.

Good news for Merck is bad news for Bristol Myers (BMY).  Bristol is taking it on the chin down 8% not far from a 52 week low after Merck reported great phase 3 results for patients taking their lung cancer drug. Merck appears to be the clear winner so far. Bristol's lung cancer drug also is showing promise, but questions remain until they report their full data.