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Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) has decided to abandon its proposed merger with Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) due to disagreements over financial terms. Instead, Cigna is shifting its focus to smaller acquisitions and has announced a $10 billion stock buyback program, increasing its total planned buybacks to $11.3 billion. The company remains positive about the benefits of a partnership with Humana and plans to repurchase at least $5 billion of common stock by mid-2024. The collapse of the deal leaves Cigna evaluating the sale of its Medicare Advantage business while continuing to expand its Evernorth health services unit.

Portfolio Pulse from Bibhu Pattnaik

December 10, 2023 | 7:00 pm

XLK

Gene Munster's Deepwater Asset Management released its annual holiday tech gift recommendations, ranging from $6 novelty phone cases to a $7,700 sofa. The list includes various tech-related items and a wish list for 2024, featuring a redesigned iPhone SE or Mini, streaming service bundles, and a more affordable Apple Vision MR headset. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) closed up 0.85% at $186.66 and has gained about 51% this year.

Portfolio Pulse from Shanthi Rexaline

December 10, 2023 | 6:11 pm

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Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) is facing a challenge with the departure of key executives, including AI Infra & AI Platform Engineering Manager Tim Zaman, who announced his move to Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) (GOOG) DeepMind. Zaman's exit follows the departure of Ganesh Venkataramanan, head of the Dojo supercomputer project. AI is crucial for Tesla's autonomous driving technology, and these exits may impact the company's AI ambitions and its valuation, especially concerning robotaxi services.

Portfolio Pulse from Shanthi Rexaline

December 10, 2023 | 6:06 pm

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) has announced an increase in its share repurchase program by $10 billion, raising the total authorization to $11.3 billion. The company plans to allocate the majority of its discretionary cash flow to buy back shares in 2024, with a target of repurchasing at least $5 billion of common stock by the end of the first half of 2024. Part of this repurchase is expected to be conducted through an accelerated share repurchase program in the first quarter of 2024.

Portfolio Pulse from Charles Gross

December 10, 2023 | 6:03 pm

HUM

Cigna's board has approved a new $10 billion share buyback plan, signaling confidence in the company's financial health and a commitment to returning value to shareholders. This move could potentially boost the stock price in the short term as it often indicates a bullish outlook from the company's management.

Portfolio Pulse from Charles Gross

December 10, 2023 | 5:38 pm

HUM

Cigna has decided not to pursue a merger with Humana after the two companies were unable to agree on terms, according to The Wall Street Journal citing sources.

Portfolio Pulse from Charles Gross

December 10, 2023 | 5:36 pm

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The NY Supreme Court has lifted an injunction, allowing six medical marijuana companies to sell recreational cannabis starting Dec. 29. The companies include Columbia Care (CCHWF), Curaleaf (CURLF), Etain (owned by Riv Capital CNPOF), NYCANNA (owned by Acreage Holdings ACRHF), PharmaCann, and Valley Agriceuticals (owned by Cresco Labs CRLBF). Four other companies are eligible to apply for the recreational market, including Citiva Medical (owned by iAnthus Capital Holdings ITHUF), Fiorello Pharmaceuticals (owned by Green Thumb Industries GTBIF), MedMen (MMNFF), and Vireo Health (doing business as Goodness Growth Holdings, listed as GDNSF).

Portfolio Pulse from Maureen Meehan

December 10, 2023 | 4:32 pm

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Crypto analyst Willy Woo discussed the bull and bear cases for Bitcoin, citing a recent 23% rally and year-to-date gains of 164%. Bullish factors include lower rates, a peaking U.S. dollar index, potential approval of a Spot Bitcoin ETF, and strong demand from companies like MicroStrategy. Bearish indicators involve technical patterns, Bitcoin returning to exchanges, a CME gap, reduced futures demand, and potential for long position liquidations. The SEC has a window until Jan. 10, 2024, to approve the Spot Bitcoin ETF, with 13 applicants in line. Other context includes Peter Schiff's comments on gold, expectations for Fed rates, the U.S. dollar index's performance, and CoinGlass data on Bitcoin liquidations.

Portfolio Pulse from Khyathi Dalal

December 10, 2023 | 3:11 pm

SOLUSD

Solana-based liquid staking protocol JITO saw a trading volume of $1.1 billion on its first day of trade after Bitget listed the JITO token. The token's value increased by 43% to $3.36. JITO airdropped governance tokens to users, with a total supply capped at 1 billion and 115 million in circulation. The protocol has over 6.4 million SOL staked, worth around $460 million. The Solana ecosystem is experiencing growth due to recent developments, although SOL's price dropped by 4.90% with a 31.55% decline in trading volume.

Portfolio Pulse from Khyathi Dalal

December 10, 2023 | 2:10 pm

NKTX

Nkarta, Inc. (NASDAQ:NKTX) presented follow-up data from its Phase 1 clinical trial of NKX101 at the 2023 ASH Meeting. NKX101 is an engineered NK cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (r/r AML).

Portfolio Pulse from Charles Gross

December 10, 2023 | 12:29 pm