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U.S. House’s Hoyer says hopeful for a vote on Biden’s “Build Back Better plan” by Friday © Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An American flag flies outside of the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Majority leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday he was hopeful for a House vote on President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan by Friday at the latest, although he acknowledged it could slip until Saturday.

“My expectation is that we will vote on this Thursday or Friday,” he told reporters.

4 ESG Healthcare Stocks to Buy for Socially Conscious Investors © Reuters. 4 ESG Healthcare Stocks to Buy for Socially Conscious Investors

At a time when increased consumer awareness has made healthcare and sustainability of almost equally high concerns to consumers and some investors, we think it would be wise for socially conscious investors to scoop up shares of quality ESG healthcare stocks Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) and DENTSPLY SIRONA (NASDAQ:XRAY). Let’s discuss.Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has not only introduced versatility and inclusiveness into corporate board rooms, it has also provided many retail investors with opportunities to make investments consistent with their values. According to Morningstar, U.S. sustainable funds generated $15.7 billion in net inflows in the third quarter of 2021. Also, BlackRock’s iShares has predicted that investment in this space will grow to $1 trillion by 2030.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumers’ outlook to now value healthier and more sustainable lifestyles. It is no longer exclusively physical health that consumers are seeking. Instead, holistic development that includes environmental health, food health, mental health, and social health are in much greater demand. The pandemic has accelerated trends in health and sustainability, thereby driving changes in consumer behavior. Furthermore, the global healthcare cloud computing market, which can be viewed as a branch of the sustainable healthcare industry, is expected to grow at a 28.5% CAGR CAGR between 2020 – 2026.

Given this backdrop, we think it could be wise for socially conscious investors to bet on fundamentally strong ESG healthcare stocks Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY), AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC), and DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (XRAY).

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Israel stocks lower at close of trade; TA 35 down 0.21% © Reuters Israel stocks lower at close of trade; TA 35 down 0.21%

Investing.com – Israel stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Biomed, Technology and Banking sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tel Aviv, the TA 35 declined 0.21%.

The best performers of the session on the TA 35 were Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd (TASE:BEZQ), which rose 7.74% or 31.1 points to trade at 432.7 at the close. Meanwhile, Melisron (TASE:MLSR) added 3.15% or 880 points to end at 28800 and Israel Corp (TASE:ILCO) was up 2.70% or 3260 points to 123960 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TASE:TEVA), which fell 3.60% or 107 points to trade at 2869 at the close. Nice Ltd (TASE:NICE) declined 1.88% or 1850 points to end at 96450 and Bank Hapoalim (TASE:POLI) was down 1.77% or 54 points to 2990.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by 258 to 229 and 38 ended unchanged.

Shares in Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd (TASE:BEZQ) rose to 52-week highs; rising 7.74% or 31.1 to 432.7. Shares in Melisron (TASE:MLSR) rose to all time highs; rising 3.15% or 880 to 28800. Shares in Israel Corp (TASE:ILCO) rose to 5-year highs; up 2.70% or 3260 to 123960.

Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.03% or 0.02 to $79.77 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January rose 0.32% or 0.26 to hit $82.31 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.51% or 9.60 to trade at $1857.00 a troy ounce.

USD/ILS was down 0.26% to 3.0933, while EUR/ILS fell 0.46% to 3.5092.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.35% at 95.743.

After rally in U.S. retailers, investors eye upcoming reports © Reuters. The Macy’s logo is displayed on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., August 19, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Recent gains in U.S. retailer shares could be put to the test in the coming days as top companies in the sector report quarterly results and investors hunt for clues about how well they have managed supply-chain problems.

Retail companies have had a strong run so far this month, with the S&P 500 retailing exchange-traded fund up about 10% compared with a roughly 2% gain for the S&P 500.

That has roughly coincided with upbeat signs as the world opens up after the global pandemic and looks to new treatments such as COVID-19 antiviral pills to keep infections in check.

The third-quarter earnings season is in the final stretch, with less than 10% of the companies in the S&P 500 still to report. A big chunk of those will be retailers, with many due to post results this week.

But whether retailers can sustain recent gains could depend on how well they have managed the global supply-chain crisis and other inflationary pressures because of the pandemic, which have raised additional concerns about the critical holiday shopping period.

Earlier on Tuesday, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc raised its annual sales and profit forecast even as global supply-chain disruptions hit margins in the third quarter. Its shares were down about 2% on Tuesday morning.

At the same time, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), helped by the strong housing market, beat quarterly sales estimates by nearly $2 billion, and its shares shot up by more than 4%.

Target Corp (NYSE:TGT), Macy’s (NYSE:M) and Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) are among a slew of others also expected to report this week.

“Traditionally, you want to be long retail going into Black Friday,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, referring to the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday that unofficially marks the start of the holiday shopping season.

“That said, there are significant supply-chain unknowns,” he added. “Who managed to do well in spite of the supply-chain challenges? That’s the biggest question that’s going to be answered by each individual company.”

While reports need to be examined individually, investors want to see increased guidance from companies with strong recent gains, James said.

“Any whiff of disappointment is not being treated well,” he noted.

Some retailers likely have been able to raise prices to maintain margin levels.

A report from the U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday suggested high inflation was not yet dampening spending. U.S. retail sales surged in October, likely helped by Americans who started their holiday shopping early because of supply shortages.

Of all S&P 500 companies that have reported, about 80% have beaten analysts’ expectations, and the forecast for year-on-year third-quarter earnings growth is now at 41.5%, up from the 29.4% seen at the beginning of October, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Consumer discretionary earnings growth, which includes many retailers, is estimated at 14.5% compared with 8% at the start of October, based on Refinitiv data.

Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research at Refinitiv, wrote in a report on Monday that e-commerce sales results will be watched to see if the move to online spending may be fading.

The latest third-quarter digital sales growth estimates suggest business volume is “holding up,” she said.

Expenses will be another key issue when investors scrutinize results.

“I caution whether it’s going to be a slam dunk,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma, noting that year-over-year comparisons are going to be “hard to beat going forward.”

“All of these companies are trying to build up cloud platforms, their delivery service, automations, robotics … so even if sales are at record levels, I would say expenses are at record levels.”

Sea Limited Stock Declines On Q3 Earnings Miss, Revenue Beat  © Reuters.

By Sam Boughedda

Investing.com — Sea Ltd (NYSE:SE) stock fell 5% on Tuesday after the company announced a loss per share of 84 cents on revenue of $2.69 billion on Tuesday.

The company missed earnings expectations but beat on revenue, with analysts polled by Investing.com anticipating the per-share loss to be 65 cents on revenue of $2.5 billion. Bookings were $1.2 billion, up 29.2% year-on-year.

Shares of the Singapore-based internet and mobile platform company hit a high of $355.99 before falling to around $325.

“We continued to see strong growth in the adoption of SeaMoney’s offerings. The total payment volume for our mobile wallet was US$4.6 billion for the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 111% year-on-year.” Sea said.

Looking ahead, Sea raised guidance for e-commerce for the full year. The company expects GAAP revenue for e-commerce to be between $5.0 billion and $5.2 billion, compared to the previous guidance of between $4.7 billion to $4.9 billion.

In addition, the company announced the appointment of Chris Feng as Sea Group’s President, starting January 1.