Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Vertex is making progress in building a foundation from which to dominate the cystic fibrosis (CF) landscape for years, Maxim Group analysts led by Jason McCarthy said in a note, upgrading the stock to buy from hold and assigning PT $143. Shares indicated at $107-$108.43 pre-market vs $107.29 close.

• Says surprised to see how well the tezacaftor/ivacaftor (tez/iva) combination worked in two pivotal studies, particularly in the heterozygote population
• Says VRTX now positioned to develop triple combinations for multiple CF mutations; views the probability of success in the remaining heterozygote Phase 3 study (data due in 2H), and the four triple combination studies with tez/iva, as skewed in favor of VRTX
• Sees reduced risk long term; reduces the discount rate to 10% from 15%
• Stock has 17 buys, 10 holds, no sells, avg PT $113: Bloomberg
• NOTE: March 29, Vertex Data Set Up Path for Triple Combo Therapy: Street Wrap

To contact the reporter on this story: Tatiana Darie in New York at tdarie1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net Will Daley

(Bloomberg) -- Following are forecasts for today’s U.S. economic releases as compiled by Bloomberg News:

• Per. Income 0.4 % m/m; range 0.2 % to 0.5 % (74 estimates)
• Per. Spending Nom. 0.2% m/m; range 0% to 0.4% (75 estimates)
• Pers Spend Infl Adj 0.1% m/m; range -0.3% to 0.2% (18 estimates)
• PCE Deflator 0.1% m/m; range 0% to 0.4% (40 estimates)
• PCE Deflator 2.1% y/y; range 1.9% to 2.2% (33 estimates)
• Core PCE Prices 0.2% m/m; range 0.1% to 0.3% (54 estimates)
• Core PCE Prices 1.7% y/y; range 1.7% to 1.8% (40 estimates)
• • "Weak spending on services, following an anticipated decline in utilities due to warmer-than-usual weather in February, will likely exacerbate expected sluggishness in personal spending on goods": Bloomberg Intelligence
  • In January, inflation-adjusted spending fell by the most since 2009 and inflation-adjusted disposable income dropped the most since 2013

(Bloomberg) -- Canada GDP y/y seen at 1.9% in January vs 2% in December (forecast range 1.3% to 2%); GDP measures final market value of all goods and services produced within a country.

• Also see Canadian Economy to Expand 2.2% in 1Q17

(Bloomberg) -- Move in which Pravin Gordhan was dismissed as finance minister is “bizarre and difficult to understand,” Chamber of Mines, which represents companies including Anglo American, says in emailed statement.

• “Business, labor and the Treasury have worked hard over the past year to protect South Africa’s credit rating. Leadership stability and capability in the key finance ministry and Treasury are crucial to sustaining progress on avoiding a downgrade”
• It’s “hard to fathom” by high-performing ministers who are of exemplary character and have worked to protect the country’s investment credibility have been fired while others “who have been embroiled in crises of huge proportions” have been left unscathed
• Events of this week area likely to be negative for country’s credit rating
• “Instability serves only further to exacerbate the negative impact on the markets and fuel speculation which is damaging to our country’s reputation as an investment destination”
• “The mining industry believes the changes will lead to instability and reduce investor confidence”
• NOTE: Zuma Faces Widening Backlash After South African Cabinet Purge Link