Raphael Stevens

In this articleHZOETSYEtsy is having a solid rally, rocketing higher after announcing a $1.62 billion deal to buy fashion resaler Depop.The gains are a refreshing change for Etsy, which has stumbled 26% in the past three months. The stock had been a stay-at-home darling at the beginning of the pandemic, but a rotation toward reopening stocks has hit hard.”In near term, they’re suffering from pandemic success. They grew so strong and so fast through the pandemic that it’s going to be very difficult for them to keep that going, and that’s basically what CFO Rachel Glaser came out and said and it really disappointed the entire market,” said Gina Sanchez, CEO of Chantico Global and chief market strategist at Lido Advisors.Sanchez told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday that the Depop acquisition is a positive for Etsy, albeit one that will pay off only in the long run.”If the idea is to start them younger and keep them longer — Depop has a much lower target demographic at an average age of 26-year-olds versus 39-year-olds, which is where their current demographic is — that’s good for their long-term growth, but these acquisitions take time. It’s not going to help them in the next quarter, or even the next two or three quarters,” Sanchez said.Finally, she says that the valuation is still too dear, even after its steep pullback. It currently trades at a 53.5 times forward multiple, below its 105 times multiple in August but still more than double the valuation for the XRT retail ETF.”There’s a cheaper way to play this recovery, and that’s just going to be a challenge for Etsy. I like the long-term story, but the short-term valuation doesn’t work right now,” she said.Mark Newton, president of Newton Advisors, agrees that Etsy could struggle to reverse its downturn. He targets $181 as a band of resistance Etsy will struggle to break above. The stock closed just above $175 on Wednesday.”I would avoid this. I do think it has further to go on the downside between now and late July,” Newton said during the same interview.Newton sees another stock in the retail space that looks primed to break out: MarineMax, a recreational boating retailer, which he said could be approaching a buy level.”It’s pulled back pretty sharply in the last few weeks, down about 30%, and this is down to a very interesting level of technical support. So I like buying this … thinking it does stabilize here and could start to turn back higher,” said Newton.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsHe targets $45 as a bottom and predicts it will then bounce into the mid- to high-$50s. It closed Wednesday at $48.48. A move to $45 implies a 7% downside.Disclosure: Newton holds a small position in HZO.Disclaimer More

A health worker tends to a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient supported by a mechanical ventilator and undergoing dialysis at the COVID-19 emergency room of the government hospital National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City, which has declared overcapacity amid rising numbers of COVID-19 infections in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, April 26, 2021.Eloisa Lopez | ReutersThe Covid-19 variant first detected in India in October has now spread to at least 62 countries as outbreaks surge across Asia and Africa — despite a 15% week-over-week drop in cases across the globe, according to the World Health Organization.”We continue to observe significantly increased transmissibility and a growing number of countries reporting outbreaks associated with this variant,” the WHO said of the Delta strain, noting that further study was a high priority.The WHO changed the name of the variant to Delta in order to simplify its scientific name, B.1.617.2. The new naming system for Covid variants, after letters of the Greek alphabet, also avoids stigmatizing countries that detect new strains.The P.1 variant, now named Gamma, which was first detected in Japan in people who had traveled from Brazil, has spread to 64 countries, according to the WHO.Even countries with high vaccination rates are seeing a rise in cases over the last week or two, “so no one is out of the woods,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program said in a Q&A hosted by the WHO on Wednesday across social media platforms.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:Delta variant first found in India spreads to 62 countries, WHO says Biden to double down on U.S. efforts to get more Americans vaccinated by the Fourth of July   Taiwan outbreak shows that’s not a long-term solution, says professor U.S. begins study testing mix-and-match Covid vaccine booster shots Moderna applies for full FDA approval of its Covid vaccine In Bahrain, where about 55% of the population is inoculated with at least one dose, Covid cases have been spiking since the beginning of May, reaching the highest level of daily reported cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Our World in Data.”Relaxation of public health and social measures, increased social mobility, virus variants and inequitable vaccination are a very dangerous combination,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead, said in explaining some of the recent surges.The Western Pacific region is reporting its highest levels of Covid cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the agency’s weekly update. The region reported more than 139,000 new cases in the past week, a 6% increase from the previous week. The highest number of new cases in the region was reported in Myanmar, which had 53,419 new cases in the past week. The highest number of deaths in the region was reported in the Philippines, which had 776 deaths in the past week.”There are hotspots in each region [of the world], there are countries that are really facing very, very challenging situations, with increases in transmission,” Van Kerkhove said. “Eighteen months in, we’re all tired of this virus. It’s not done with us yet, and if we give it the opportunity to spread, it will.”The African region reported more than 52,000 new cases and more than 1,100 new deaths in the past week, a 22% and an 11% increase, respectively, compared with the previous week, according to the weekly update.The WHO also said last week that Africa needs at least 20 million AstraZeneca Covid vaccine doses within the next six weeks to get the second round of shots to people who’ve already received the first. The continent has received only 1% of all vaccines administered globally and needs another 200 million doses of any cleared Covid vaccines to vaccinate 10% of the continent by September.President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he’s pulling out all the stops to get at least 70% of all American adults at least partially inoculated by the Fourth of July, offering vaccines at barber and beauty shops, free babysitting and Uber rides for people to get vaccinated, among other incentives. As of Tuesday, more than 62% of all adults in the U.S. had at least one shot. More

The second test of blood from Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit confirmed the presence of the banned steroid betamethasone, a lawyer for the horse’s owner told CNBC on Wednesday.The second positive test sharply increases the chance that Medina Spirit’s victory on May 1 will be overturned by Kentucky racing officials and that Mandaloun, which ran second that day, will be declared the winner.Hours after disclosure of the test, the company that operates Churchill Downs Racetrack — the site of the Kentucky Derby — said it had immediately suspended Baffert for two years.Clark Brewster, the attorney for Medina Spirit’s owner, Amr Zedan, said officials are allowing another lab to analyze a third sample from the 3-year-old colt.That test, Brewster said, could determine whether there are chemicals that would support the claim by trainer Bob Baffert that the betamethasone may have come from an antifungal ointment applied to the horse, and not an injection.If the third test gives that result, Brewster could use it to argue against Medina Spirit being disqualified from the Derby, which is the first jewel in thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.The attorney suggested he also might challenge the accuracy and protocol of the first official test, and the second analysis of blood, known as a split sample.”I have not seen the paperwork to conclude that even the primary or split tests were properly admitted,” Brewster said.The second failed test was first reported Wednesday by The New York Times.Brewster said that if a horse fails a first drug test, a trainer normally has the option of “sending the B sample” for analysis at a selected lab for a second, confirmatory test.For Medina Spirit’s B sample, Brewster said, the horse’s team “requested both the blood and urine to be sent to” such a lab.Trainer Bob Baffert of Medina Spirit, raises the trophy after winning the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby with Medina Spirit, his seventh career Kentucky Derby win, at Churchill Downs on May 01, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky.Andy Lyons | Getty ImagesThe attorney said that if both substances were tested, it could detect the presence of chemical components that would indicate whether betamethasone came from ointment.”But they [racing officials] refused to send” the urine, Brewster said. “They only sent the blood.”The lawyer said that on Monday or Tuesday, Medina Spirit’s team was informed the lab “found betamethasone” in the split sample.Brewster said the lab did not release the level of that steroid found in the blood, “but they said it’s there.””They estimated it was 25 picograms,” he said.Baffert at a May 9 news conference first revealed that Medina Spirit had tested positive for the steroid, saying the first sample was found to have 21 picograms of betamethasone.While that drug can be legally used as a therapeutic in Kentucky on a horse, any trace of it on race day is grounds for disqualification if a second test confirms it was in the blood on that day.A picogram is a trillionth of a gram, a point Brewster made several times during a phone interview Wednesday.The lawyer said testing labs in recent years have become able to detect minute levels of pharmaceutical substances, some of which can enter a horse’s or human’s system by incidental contact, as opposed to intentional administration.The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will have the final say over whether to void Medina Spirit’s Derby win.”Hopefully they will make a reasonable judgment,” Brewster said.”I think there will be unanimity on the subject that this is an infinitesimal amount that could not have affected the race,” the lawyer said.Baffert, who so far this year has seen five of his horses fail drug tests, was suspended indefinitely from Churchill Downs Racetrack, where the Derby is held, as a result of Medina Spirit’s first positive test.Medina Spirit was later allowed to race May 15 in the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, the second leg of the Triple Crown, under an agreement that it and another Baffert-trained horse, Concert Tour, submit to “rigorous testing and monitoring,” the Maryland Jockey Club said.Medina Spirit finished third in the Preakness.Medina Spirit will not run in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday on Long Island, New York, because Baffert was temporarily suspended last month from entering horses in that race, the third jewel of the Triple Crown, or other major New York tracks as a result of the positive drug test from the Derby.Baffert has trained two Triple Crown winners. He has trained seven Kentucky Derby winners, counting Medina Spirit.Baffert’s lawyer W. Craig Robertson III on Wednesday later issued a formal statement on the most recent drug test.”In response to the inquiries, this will acknowledge that the Medina Spirit split sample confirmed the finding of betamethasone at 25 picograms,” Robertson said.”There is other testing that is being conducted, including DNA testing,” Robertson said.”We expect this additional testing to confirm that the presence of the betamethasone was from the topical ointment, Otomax, and not an injection,” Robertson said.”At the end of the day, we anticipate this case to be about the treatment of Medina Spirit’s skin rash with Otomax. We will have nothing further to say until the additional testing is complete.”Kristin Voskuhl, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, said in a statement that the commission “does not provide comment or updates on the status of ongoing investigations.””The KHRC values fairness and transparency, and will provide information to the media and public at the close of an investigation,” Voskuhl said.Marty Irby, executive director of the advocacy group Animal Wellness Action, in a statement, said, “The news of Medina Spirit’s second test confirmed positive is no shock.””Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby, and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission must stand firmly together in agreement to take the 2021 Derby title away from Bob Baffert and the horse,” Irby said.”And we call on Churchill Downs to show no mercy and permanently ban Bob Baffert and his horses from the Kentucky Derby and all of Churchill Downs’ tracks. It’s time to end the cheating and medication abuse in the fastest two minutes in sports and an example must be made.”Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC and NBC Sports, which broadcast the Triple Crown races. More