Investment Review - December 2019
- U.S. stocks closed out November with their largest monthly gains since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each rose more than 3% for the month. The indexes set records in the month. An accommodative Federal Reserve and confident consumers have supported current economic growth and expectations for stock market returns.
- Saudi Aramco priced its initial public offering Thursday at the high end of the targeted range, raising $25.6 billion for 1.5% of the state-controlled company, valuing the oil giant at $1.7 trillion. This is the world’s biggest IPO and puts only 1.5% in public hands. The sale fell short of the initial $2 trillion valuation targeted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Many institutional investors outside Saudi Arabia passed on the offering as too expensive. Shares will trade on the Riyadh stock market.
- Beware the Beyond Burger! One of the year’s more successful IPOs was the launch of meat substitute, Beyond Burger. Shares were priced at $25 and rocketed to $250 within two months. Shares have since fallen and are currently about even with the closing price on their opening day, about $75. The company just announced positive net income for the first time since it was founded 10 years ago. Competitor Impossible Food says it is not going public any time soon, and large, established food companies are also developing “plant-based meats.”
Sources: Bloomberg LLC, FactSet, Dow Jones
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