News

Update: Supreme Court refuses to hear J&J appeal

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that it has been in talks with Taiwan about providing its COVID-19 vaccine to the island since last year. Johnson & Johnson talking to Taiwan about providing COVID-19 vaccine (yahoo.com)

New ETF bets on interest rate rise

Oil prices jump over $70 a barrel today

3M (MMM): CEO Mike Roman told an investment conference that rising commodity prices and parts shortages created by pent-up demand from the pandemic translate into higher costs for 3M–and those increased expenses, in turn, will reduce earnings by 30 cents to 50 cents in 2021. Wall Street projects 3M will earn a little less than $10 a share this year, so the impact is about 4%. “There’s what’s going to happen to raw materials, logistics, labor cost inflation,” he said. Roman took on a subject — inflation — that is worrying investors. Inflation, these days, feels like the monster under a child’s bed. Investors haven’t seen it, they don’t know if its friend or foe, but they are scared of it nonetheless. 3M Chief Talks Inflation. We Explore Ways to Invest. | Barron’s (barrons.com)

Microsoft (MSFT): Morgan Stanley and Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced a strategic cloud partnership aimed at accelerating the firm’s digital transformation and shaping the future of innovation in the financial services industry. The companies will strike a unique collaboration to unlock the opportunities that Microsoft’s cloud provides with a specific view toward the challenges of financial services and enabling Morgan Stanley to accelerate the modernization of its IT environment to enhance client, employee and developer experiences. Morgan Stanley and Microsoft collaborate to accelerate cloud transformation – Stories

Microsoft has announced it will unveil the latest version of the Windows operating system in a June 24 event. The news comes after Microsoft said last month that Windows 10X for dual-screen devices would no longer ship. The new Windows is expected to incorporate significant changes in the user interface called “Valley of the Sun.” Xbox, bluetooth features part of Microsoft’s next-generation Windows – UPI.com

Sold position in Nordic American Tankers (NAT). They cut their annual dividend by 30% and reduced my yield by a significant percentage. The stock price appreciated enough where I will still exceed my annual estimated income for this year. That enables me to find a new company with a higher yield.

I will be moving the funds from NAT into CrossAmerica Partners (CAPL). CAPL was founded in 2012 and distributes gasoline, leases out retail outlets for gas stations,