Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.02), MarketWatch Earnings reports. The firm had revenue of $77.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.26 million. Clean Energy Fuels had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 10.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS.
Shares of CLNE traded down $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.82. The company had a trading volume of 8,919,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,465,667. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.43. Clean Energy Fuels has a 1-year low of $1.82 and a 1-year high of $19.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 2.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.88 and a beta of 2.02.
CLNE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Clean Energy Fuels in a research note on Thursday, April 1st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Credit Suisse Group initiated coverage on shares of Clean Energy Fuels in a research note on Wednesday, February 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Clean Energy Fuels from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 12th. Raymond James reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Clean Energy Fuels in a research note on Monday, April 26th. Finally, Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on shares of Clean Energy Fuels from $9.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.50.
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In related news, major shareholder Marketing Services S.A. Total sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.55, for a total value of $2,887,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Mitchell W. Pratt sold 11,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.99, for a total transaction of $152,710.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 282,082 shares of company stock worth $3,301,501. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Clean Energy Fuels Company Profile
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. provides natural gas as an alternative fuel for vehicle fleets and related fueling solutions, primarily in the United States and Canada. It supplies renewable natural gas (RNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles; and offers operation and maintenance services for public and private vehicle fleet customer stations.
Read More: What does the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) measure?

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Featured Article: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing
7 Outdoor Recreation Stocks For Growth And DividendsIf American’s liked outdoor activities before, they love them even more now. The COVID-19 pandemic has done many things, and one of them is reinvigorating American’s love of the outdoors. Data from across the industry shows a sustained uptick in revenue that has the entire complex moving higher.The RV Industry Association, for example, reports shipments of RVs are up greater than 30% in 2020 and are expected to grow another 20% or more in 2021. If data from the two of the industry’s largest manufacturers are any indication, that forecast is very conservative.And the gains aren’t limited to RVs. Everything that has anything to do with outdoor recreation is booming. Sales at Dicks Sporting Goods, an iconic brand for retail and the outdoors, has seen a sustained 20% increase in revenue since the 2nd quarter shutdowns. If anything, revenue in this sector is being held back by rapidly declining inventory and tight shipping conditions.The stocks we are about to show all have something in common; the outdoors. Within the group, you will find everything from RVs to Radios and everything in between an outdoor enthusiast could need or want. Some pay dividends and some don’t, but all will deliver solid returns to investors in 2021.View the “7 Outdoor Recreation Stocks For Growth And Dividends”.

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Cinemark (NYSE:CNK) announced its earnings results on Friday. The company reported ($1.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.53) by ($0.22), MarketWatch Earnings reports. The firm had revenue of $114.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.06 million. Cinemark had a negative return on equity of 27.80% and a negative net margin of 25.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 79.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.51) earnings per share.
CNK traded up $1.08 on Friday, hitting $21.57. 4,829,359 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,470,222. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of -7.21 and a beta of 2.61. Cinemark has a twelve month low of $7.56 and a twelve month high of $27.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45.
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CNK shares. Benchmark lifted their target price on Cinemark from $21.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 3rd. Loop Capital lowered Cinemark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 1st. B. Riley raised Cinemark from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, January 15th. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Cinemark from $12.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, January 15th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Cinemark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.17.
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In other Cinemark news, insider Valmir Fernandes sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.98, for a total value of $299,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 165,288 shares in the company, valued at $4,128,894.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Cinemark Company Profile
Cinemark Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the motion picture exhibition business. As of March 4, 2021, it operated 531 theatres with 5,958 screens in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Bolivia, Curacao, and Paraguay.
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Featured Article: What is the price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio?
7 Stocks to Buy As Americans Receive Stimulus ChecksMillions of Americans will be receiving an additional $1,400 as part of the Biden stimulus plan after receiving $600 as part of the stimulus bill that President Trump back on December 27, 2020. Many already have.For many Americans, there is a definite plan for how that money will be spent. And the usual suspects like Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will likely continue to be busy. However, for other Americans, the money they receive will truly be like finding money. Both scenarios present different thoughts for investors.You may agree with the payments. You may disagree with them. It really doesn’t matter, they’re coming and now as an investor, the question is how can you benefit from the new spending that will undoubtedly occur as a result of Americans receiving this stimulus?We have some ideas and we’re sharing them with you in this special presentation. It’s comforting to remember that for many people receiving the stimulus checks will help ease the pressure from desperate circumstances.View the “7 Stocks to Buy As Americans Receive Stimulus Checks”.

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The parade of “disruptors” in the financial services and payments spaces — via public listings on Wall Street — continues.
Affirm went public earlier this year.
SoFi announced plans to go public via special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with blank-check firm Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V.
Billtrust, the B2B accounts receivable automation firm,  went public in January. AvidExchange has reportedly been prepping for an initial public offering (IPO).
And in the latest salvo, Flywire filed earlier this month to go public, in a deal that would raise up to a reported $300 million.
Flywire’s S-1 listing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gives a glimpse into how the company views its markets — and why huge industries such as healthcare are ripe for disruption.
To get a sense of how the tailwinds of cross-border payments and modernizing those payments have been boosting the company, the firm reported first-quarter revenues of $45 million, up 37.6 percent from $32.7 million in the year-ago period. For 2020, the company logged $131.7 million in revenues, up from $94 million in 2019 (operating loss narrowed to $15.8 million from $17.4 million in 2019).
Digging into the filing, Flywire said that it enabled $7.5 billion in total payment volume for the year across 130 currencies and multiple payment types spanning local bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and alternative payment methods (such as Alipay).
At a high level, the company said, “the demand for domestic and cross-border money movement continues to accelerate and global payments present one of the largest market opportunities.”
The greenfield opportunity is sizable, according to the firm, which noted that the current addressable market is $11.7 trillion, with a focus in the education vertical ($660 billion), healthcare ($500 billion) and travel ($530 billion).
The B2B Opportunity  
Per the filing, “additionally, our B2B payments offering expands the addressable market for our solutions, which we estimate to be over $10 trillion in addressable B2B payment volume,” Flywire said.
Those verticals, with what Flywire said are “complex accounts receivable needs,” need to move beyond highly manual processes that are both time-consuming and costly. PYMNTS’ own research, in collaboration with Flywire, has revealed that tech firms doing business internationally have spent as much as 3 percent of annual sales on payment processing-related costs. A majority of firms — 75 percent of them — see their AR processes as being only “somewhat effective” at best. Other PYMNTS’ research shows that healthcare firms take an average of 25.3 days to follow up on late payments.
Legacy infrastructure has tied clients to paper-based accounts receivable processes, from invoice to end delivery.
But with automation, said Flywire, “organizations that process substantially all of their accounts receivable by automated or electronic means report half the accounts receivable processing costs of those that do not.”
That might be especially apparent in the B2B payments market, where only about half of invoices are electronic, and, per Mastercard data cited in the filing, more than one-third of B2B/government to business payments have been made by cash or check.
And, “the majority of healthcare payments are still made by check. Likewise, in education, budget shortfalls and jobs impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with rising tuition costs, have added financial strain and created collections problems,” said Flywire.
The company maintains that integrating to a single connection to Flywire, means that “our clients have access to a unique set of payment methods including banks, third-party payment providers, payment networks and digital wallets.” Though many industries lack the digital payments infrastructure that is necessary to meet customer demand, the trend toward digitizing payments is “inevitable,” the company noted.

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NEW PYMNTS STUDY: SUBSCRIPTION COMMERCE CONVERSION INDEX – APRIL 2021

About The Study: One third of consumers who signed up for subscription services within the past year were just in it for the free trial. In the 2021 Subscription Commerce Conversion Index, PYMNTS surveys 2,022 U.S. consumers and analyzes more than 200 subscription commerce providers to zero in on the key features that turn the “subscription curious” into sticky, long term subscribers.

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New initiatives from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are set to ring significant changes to the enforcement of environmental, social and government disclosures. But according to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the current framework is already fit for purpose.
In an interview with Law360, Peirce warned against a more prescriptive approach from the agency, suggesting the current principles-based framework was already capable of handling these issues.
“We have a principles-based disclosure framework that is rooted in materiality and intended to be flexible so it can be used by issuers across industries. The materiality standard is derived from U.S. Supreme Court case law, which tells us that information is material if there’s a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would consider the information important in making a financial decision about the company. That’s an objective test that we can look at.”
On whether a new disclosure framework should be introduced, Peirce said securities laws are not the optimum tool for implementing policy preferences, with a better focus instead on ensuring more people can participate in capital markets.
“I worry about using the securities laws to implement policy preferences. Our capital markets are valuable and they’ve functioned very well to help people live better lives and achieve prosperity. Our goal should be to ensure that more Americans can participate in those capital markets. It shouldn’t be to inject political issues into the capital markets.”
Quizzed about the views of new SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on the matter, Peirce said it was still too early to speculate on his likely preferred direction.
“I have known Chairman Gensler for a long time, and he is knowledgeable about the capital markets and he loves the role that the capital markets play in the country. I’m sure he’s meeting with tons of people and hearing lots of different perspectives. And I’m sure that will continue as he settles in. So it’s just really too early for me to speculate about the approach that he’s going to take in this area.”
Commissioner Peirce’s comments point instead towards a need for a greater emphasis on access to capital, particularly as the U.S. economy begins to rebound from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
See also: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce discusses “Blockchain Policy Matters” with Bitcoin Association’s Jimmy Nguyen

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.

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Goddy Egene
The Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) is set to admit Dukia Gold‘s diversified financial instruments, backed by gold as the underlying assets in a sector worth over N300 trillion.
Addressing journalists at the pre-listing media interactive session in Lagos, the Dukia Gold’s Chairman of Dukia Gold, Mr. Tunde Fagbemi, said that the instruments which would be in form of Exchange Traded Notes (ETN), Commercial Papers (CP) and other gold-backed securities would enable the company deepen the commodities market in Nigeria, increase capacity, generate foreign exchange for the government to diversify external reserve and create massive employment across the metal production value chain.

Fagbemi hailed the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for supporting trading of gold in Nigeria, saying this remained one of the ways to diversify Nigeria’s sources of foreign exchange at this critical period of Nigeria’s economy.
He said: “We are proud to be the first Gold company whose products would be listed on the LFCE. The listing shall enable us facilitate our infrastructure development, expand capacity and create fungible products. This has potential to shore up Nigeria’s foreign reserve and create an alternative window for preservation of pension funds. A gold-backed security is a hedge against inflation and convenient preservation of capital.”According to him, they have refinery services to smelt metals with capacity to meet local and international demand.
“As a global player, we comply with the practices and procedures of London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and many other international bodies. Our refinery will also have multiplier effects on the development of rural areas anywhere it is located. There must be constant power supply, good road network and other social amenities, apart from employment opportunities for the rural dwellers,” Fagbemi said.
Speaking in the same vein, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank Plc, Ifie Sekibo, who was represented by the Divisional Head, Strategy and Business Solutions, Heritage Bank and only licenced gold settlement bank in Nigeria, Mr. Olusegun Akanji, stated that the bank had created a buying centre for verification of quality and quantity of gold and reference price to ensure price discovery in line with the global standard. According to him, every transaction is auditable to protect investors.
The Managing Director, LCFE, Mr Akin Akeredolu-Ale, who commended SEC for issuing the exchange a licence to trade gold said commodities exchanges play strategic roles introducing structures into the ecosystem which was in urgent need for regulation, funding and data collation
“ Nigeria’s International Trade in Solid Minerals and commodities is behind par and the absence of a listed gold investible instrument on a commodities exchange limits export potential for the exploration of solid minerals in Nigeria, particularly Gold. The need to harness the potential growth in the Nigerian Solid Mineral/ Gold sector and commodity trades justifies the timely establishment of a gold trading platform and the objectives of the promoters of Dukia Gold,” he said.
According to him, LCFE is ready to support all the stakeholders in the Gold Sector in the areas of market creation, dissemination of market information, price risk management, reduction of counter party risk for trades, price discovery and transparency, standardisation, facilitation of commodity finance and innovative applications for an exchange mechanism.

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A Fitch rating is an opinion as to the creditworthiness of a security. … Inc. is registered with the U.S.

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Battery maker Novonix (NVX) is trading higher this morning as it eyes a secondary listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York
The company said it is exploring its options as far as a NASDAQ listing goes, though nothing has been confirmed just yet
Novonix has submitted a draft registration to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering of American Depositary Shares
The potential NASDAQ listing comes after Novonix listed its shares on an over-the-counter market in September 2020
In January 2021, the company was added to the OTCQX Composite index and the OTCQX International Index
Now, the company may give international investors even more opportunities to become part of the Novonix story through the NASDAQ
Investors seem supportive of the move, with Novonix shares up almost 11 per cent to $2.34 each during morning trades

Battery maker Novonix (NVX) is trading higher this morning as it eyes a secondary listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York.
The company told shareholders this morning it is exploring its options for the NASDAQ listing, though things are still in their early stages and nothing has been confirmed just yet.
Novonix has submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to a potential initial public offering (IPO) of American Depositary Shares (ADSs). An ADS is essentially a way for U.S. investors to buy shares in a company outside of the States.
The company said it is still yet to determine how many ADSs and underlying Novonix ordinary shares will be offered and what their offer price will be under the IPO.
Moreover, Novonix cautioned that no final decision has been made as far as its NASDAQ listing goes and, as such, there is no guarantee it will go ahead at all.
International opportunities
Novonix first flagged international markets when it revealed plans last June to sell its shares on over-the-counter markets to keep up with growing international demand for its securities.
At the time, the company said demand for renewables and green energy was driving a booming battery market. This bodes well for Novonix’s single crystal cathode production technique, which is designed to improve the battery life of lithium-ion batteries.
The success of this production technique has seen Novonix shares increase thousandfold over the past 12 months.
In late September 2020, the company listed on the OTCQX Best Market in North America. Further to this, Novonix was added to the OTCQX Composite index and the OTCQX International Index in January 2021.
Now, with a potential listing on the NASDAQ, the battery maker is offering even more opportunities for U.S. investors to become a part of the Novonix story.
Novonix raised $115 million through an institutional placement in February, which it immediately followed up with a $16.45 million placement to company directors.
As such, the company has $131 million in available cash as of March 31, 2021.
While Novonix said the cash boost would be used to scale up its anode materials production, the healthy balance sheet could also support NASDAQ listing, although the company has not said how much the dual-listing would cost.
Investors seem supportive of the potential NASDAQ listing, with Novonix shares up 10.9 per cent at 10:40 am AEST to $2.34 each.

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SpaceX, the company helmed by Elon Musk, is launching its “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” campaign, which “will obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on board with integrated communications and computational systems” and fly to the actual moon, CNBC writes.
CNBC reports that the DOGE-1 will fly a 40 kilogram cube satellite as a payload on the Falcon 9 rocket.
Tom Ochinero, SpaceX vice president of commercial sales, said in a statement that DOGE-1 “will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.”
Dfinity plans to release the “Internet Computer,” which a report says has been “one of the most ambitious and long-lasting cryptocurrency projects.”
The Internet Computer is a group of technologies that could support a new generation of distributed applications and services developing in the blockchain world.
Dfinity, which started work in 2017, set out to build a faster, cheaper version of ethereum, blockchain with “smart contracts,” and software code that runs automatically when some conditions are met.
Even before this week’s launch, the futures trading for digital tokens has suggested it could become one of the most valuable cryptos, with the value at one point reaching over $100 billion.
New York state Attorney General Letitia James has moved to shut down automated crypto trading app Coinseed for reportedly defrauding its users, CoinDesk writes.
The activity allegedly continued even as Coinseed faced pressure from multiple fronts.
James accused Coinseed in February of stealing $1 million from investors via hidden fees, false claims and a flopped token.
Coinbase reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) laid token registration violations on Coinseed in a separate suit.
The new evidence also comes with allegations of unauthorized trading activity, according to filings.

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NEW PYMNTS STUDY: SUBSCRIPTION COMMERCE CONVERSION INDEX – APRIL 2021

About The Study: One third of consumers who signed up for subscription services within the past year were just in it for the free trial. In the 2021 Subscription Commerce Conversion Index, PYMNTS surveys 2,022 U.S. consumers and analyzes more than 200 subscription commerce providers to zero in on the key features that turn the “subscription curious” into sticky, long term subscribers.

[…]

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Lafayette-based companies LHC Group and Waitr released their first quarter financial results recently, showing how two of the companies most important to Acadiana’s economy have fared in early 2021.
Many of the other companies based in Lafayette, such as Stuller, Acadian and SCP Health, are private and are not required to release quarterly financial information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Below is a breakdown of how some of the public companies in Lafayette have performed through the first three months of 2021.
LHC Group
LHC Group, the Lafayette-based home health company, posted a profit of $34.7 million for the first quarter of 2021, the company said in a news release. The profit includes about $12 million in COVID-19 costs and expenses for personal protective equipment, supplies and employee-related costs.

LHC Group’s quality and patient satisfaction scores exceed the national average, the company said in the release. 
“This is a year of great opportunity for LHC Group,” said LHC Group Chairman and CEO Keith Myers in a release. “We are also benefiting from an improved legislative and regulatory outlook as legislative initiatives from Congress, innovation from CMS and stated budget and stimulus priorities of the Biden Administration are all emphasizing the need for at home care.” 

Waitr
Lafayette-based food delivery service Waitr posted a net loss of $3.7 million in the first quarter of 2021, ending its streak of profitable quarters.
In a news release, Waitr said the loss included $5.1 million in losses that the company considers to be one-time occurrences. In the first quarter of 2020, the company posted a loss of $2.1 million.
“We are pleased with our financial results for the first quarter of 2021, as we continued to grow our revenue and generate positive operating cash flow,” said Carl Grimstad, chairman and CEO of Waitr, in a press release.

At the end of the first quarter, the company reported it had an average of 37,627 orders each day and around 2 million active diners.
Waitr had a profit of $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, and a profit of $4.6 million in the third quarter. The second quarter of 2020 saw Waitr post its first profitable quarter since going public, recording a profit of $10.7 million.
More:Waitr expands to Ville Platte
First Horizon
While not based in Lafayette, First Horizon — the company that purchased the Lafayette-based IBERIABANK — posted a first quarter profit of $225 million, according to a press release.
The Tennessee-based bank said its profits were reduced by $60 million, largely due to the merger with IBERIABANK. The company’s CEO said in a release that the merger saved the company $76 million in the first quarter.
“Our balanced business model and countercyclical businesses continued to perform well in the first quarter,” said President and CEO Bryan Jordan in a release. “Credit quality improved, and our expense discipline resulted in incremental cost savings. Merger integration efforts are going well, and I am proud of our associates’ unwavering support of our clients and communities.

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NYSE to Delist Chinese Telecom Carriers After Rejecting Appeals
Delistings to follow Trump-era investment ban and Biden-era review

China’s big three telecom carriers lost their appeals against being kicked off the New York Stock Exchange, which moved to delist them to comply with an investment ban introduced by former President Donald Trump.
In separate filings Friday in Hong Kong, China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Telecom Corp. said they expected the NYSE to apply to the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to delist their American depositary receipts. The Big Board did so later Friday, putting the companies on track to be delisted in 10 days.
An NYSE spokesman declined to comment.
In November, Mr. Trump signed an executive order barring Americans from investing in Chinese companies that the U.S. said aided China’s military, intelligence and security services.
That led the NYSE in January, after some flip-flopping, to say it would delist the three telecoms groups. Soon after Joe Biden was sworn in as president, all three companies asked the Big Board to review its decision.
The delistings have had little practical effect for the telecoms companies. While ADRs in all three companies have been suspended since Jan. 11, their more widely held Hong Kong shares continue to trade, and large investors have been able to swap ADRs for those shares. At the same time, buyers from the Chinese mainland have increased their holdings in the firms.
The trio said Friday that investors may swap outstanding ADRs for Hong Kong shares by returning them to the Bank of New York Mellon.
Some smaller U.S. investors who held ADRs in the Chinese companies and didn’t sell them before Mr. Trump’s order took effect in January have found themselves stuck with securities they can’t trade. Such investors haven’t been able to swap their ADRs for Hong Kong shares because their brokerages don’t support international brokerage accounts.
The issue came up at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday when Rep. Van Taylor (R., Texas) asked the new head of the SEC how he planned to help such investors. “Investors are having their capital stuck in investments…. How are we going to get them out?” Mr. Taylor asked.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who took the helm of the agency last month, said he hadn’t been briefed on the issue but pledged to look into it.
In their filings, the three Chinese companies reiterated that they had followed laws, regulations and listing requirements since going public.
Unicom said it had about 5 million ADRs outstanding at the end of April, down from about 33 million at the end of last year, and representing just 0.2% of its total shares. China Telecom said the equivalent ratio for it on May 6 was 0.14%.
Hong Kong-listed shares in the three companies have diverged since Mr. Trump’s executive order was signed. Since then, China Telecom’s stock has recovered from initial losses to gain about 6%. But China Mobile shares have fallen 5%, and China Unicom stock is off by 15%.
The blacklist covers dozens of companies in sectors such as energy, aviation, transportation and technology, although most other targets weren’t listed in the U.S. The order has led index providers such as MSCI Inc., FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones Indices to cut some securities from their indexes.
Another notable target of the blacklist has mounted a successful legal challenge. In March, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the U.S. investment ban on Xiaomi Corp. , calling the decision to blacklist the Chinese technology company deeply flawed. Unlike the Chinese telecoms carriers, Xiaomi isn’t partly state-owned.
Cnooc Ltd. , the Chinese oil company, has also asked the NYSE to reconsider its planned delisting.

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Published 10 May 2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will register and actively monitor brokers selling stocks for foreign companies in furtherance of its mandate of ensuring investor protection and market transparency, especially for retail investors.
The Executive Commissioner Operations, SEC, Mr Dayo Obisan, was quoted in a statement by SEC on Sunday as saying this during an interview with Bloomberg over the weekend.
According to Obisan, SEC intends to license firms offering foreign stocks under a “digital sub-broker” regulation, which should provide a form of clarity to their activities.
He said the requirement would ensure regulatory responsibilities in on-boarding clients, custody of assets, and compliance with reporting requirements were met.
He said, “Ultimately, we expect that registration will ensure that only genuine platforms target retail investors. We already have one of the platforms at a very advanced stage in the registration process.
“The SEC has rules on foreign investments and cross-border transactions which specify the requirements for foreign investors seeking to invest in Nigeria as well as issuers of securities. Broadly speaking, all capital market instruments are registrable – equities, bonds, units of investment funds, derivatives, etc.”
According to Obisan, the Nigerian market has been open to the listing of securities by foreign issuers, and there are no restrictions in that regard.

He said, “As mentioned earlier, Part H of our Rules deals with the regulation of foreign investments and cross-border securities transactions.
“Most foreign issuers take advantage of the reciprocal agreements which exist between Nigeria and the country of the issuer, especially where the securities regulator of that country is a member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions.

“This is quite distinct from the activities of the online platforms, which are brokering secondary deals in securities that have been issued in another country and essentially performing a function for which they have not been registered or licensed, which is what necessitated the circular by the commission.”
According to Obisan, Nigerians, like other citizens across the globe, have the liberty to trade across borders but what has become a growing trend is the participation by retail investors in cross-border transactions, which had hitherto been undertaken by institutional and high net-worth investors.
He said, “This sort of savvy investors have the resources and skillset to undertake independent evaluations of potential cross-border investments beyond disclosures made to them.
“What we can confirm, based on our interactions with some of the online platform operators which are facilitating these trades, is that there has been a sharp increase over the last 18 months in the number of users of these platforms.”
Obisan said about 400,000 Nigerians invested in foreign stocks through online brokers in the last 18 months.

“There also appears to be an increasing interest among the younger population and this is of interest to the commission primarily because it creates an avenue for exploitation if it is not properly monitored and regulated, especially as this interest is not mirrored on the traditional and core asset class,” he said.
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… filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2021, and subsequent SEC filings, including risks related to the disruption caused …

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Acquisition of High-Margin, Oil-Weighted Howard County Leasehold
Divestiture of Gas-Weighted Reserves in Reagan/Glasscock Counties
TULSA, OK, May 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Laredo Petroleum, Inc. (NYSE: LPI) (“Laredo” or the “Company”) today announced the signing of a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the assets of Sabalo Energy, LLC (“Sabalo”), a portfolio company of EnCap Investments L.P. (“EnCap”), and a non-operating partner for approximately $715 million, subject to customary closing price adjustments, comprised of $625 million in cash and approximately 2.5 million shares of Laredo common equity. Additionally, the Company announced the sale of 37.5% of its operated proved developed producing (“PDP”) reserves in its legacy leasehold in Reagan and Glasscock counties (“Legacy”) to an affiliate of Sixth Street Partners, LLC (“Sixth Street”) for proceeds of $405 million and additional potential cash-flow based earn-out payments over the next six years. None of the PDP reserves are located in Howard or Western Glasscock counties. Both transactions are expected to close July 1, 2021.
“The transformational impact for Laredo of the combined transactions is significant,” stated Jason Pigott, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Upon closing, we will be positioned for sustainable Free Cash Flow1 generation and significant deleveraging, have more than 30,000 highly productive, contiguous net acres in Howard County and a near-term pathway to increasing our oil cut to more than 50% from the current 30%. The value derived from employing our efficient, low-cost operations in Howard County has already been established on our current leasehold and we expect to perform equally well on this new acreage. Additionally, we will be applying our ESG best practices to the development of this acreage, maintaining our prior commitments to reducing greenhouse gas intensity, methane emissions and eliminating routine flaring.”
Financial Highlights:

Combined transactions expected to be accretive to long-term Free Cash Flow1 and Adjusted EBITDA1 per share
Transforms the cash generation profile of the Company, expected to drive total Free Cash Flow1 through FY-25 of >$700 million at current strip prices
Anticipated deleveraging beginning in second half of 2021, with Net Debt/TTM Adjusted EBITDA1 approaching 1.5x by YE-22 and 1.0x by YE-25
Enables mid-single digit annualized oil production growth at 50%-70% reinvestment rate through FY-25
Company oil cut expected to rise to 50% of total production by YE-21, increasing margins per barrel of oil equivalent (“BOE”)

Acquisition Highlights:

~21,000 contiguous net acres (86% operated, 100% held by production) directly offsetting Laredo’s existing Howard County leasehold
~120 operated oil-weighted locations (91% WI) and ~150 non-operated locations (12% WI)
83% of locations are capital efficient long laterals of 10,000 feet or greater
Currently producing ~14,500 BOE per day (83% oil, three stream) of low-decline production with an estimated next 12-month oil decline of 35%
PDP reserves of approximately 30 million BOE (73% oil, three stream)
Ideally situated for Laredo’s efficient, low-cost operating structure
Development and spacing assumptions of 12 wells per drilling spacing unit

“This transaction complements Laredo’s existing asset base and strategy and accelerates the Company’s transformation to becoming a leading independent operator in the Midland Basin,” commented Doug Swanson, Managing Partner of EnCap. “Laredo is well positioned to maximize value from the Sabalo assets and we view this transaction as compelling for Laredo shareholders, including EnCap, as part of this transaction.”
Divestiture Highlights:

Proceeds of $405 million from Sixth Street for the sale of 37.5% of Laredo’s working interest in operated PDP reserves in gas-weighted Legacy assets, which does not include the Western Glasscock acreage acquired in late 2019
Divested reserves of approximately 94 million BOE (18% oil) with associated production of approximately 25,000 BOE per day (23% oil), at closing
Wellbore working interest only, Laredo retains all undeveloped locations

Acquisition Financing Details:

Funded through the partial sale of Legacy PDP reserves, borrowings on the Company’s Senior Secured Credit Facility and the issuance of approximately 2.5 million common shares to EnCap
Senior Secured Credit Facility borrowing base reaffirmed at $725 million

1Non-GAAP financial measure; please see definitions of non-GAAP financial measures at the end of this release.
Citigroup and Houlihan Lokey provided advisory services on the Sabalo acquisition and Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor on the PDP sale to Sixth Street. Akin Gump and Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as Laredo’s legal advisors. Jefferies acted as exclusive financial advisor to Sabalo and Bracewell served as Sabalo’s legal advisor. White & Case acted as legal advisor to Sixth Street.
About Laredo
Laredo Petroleum, Inc. is an independent energy company with headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Laredo’s business strategy is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties, primarily in the Permian Basin of West Texas.
Additional information about Laredo may be found on its website at www.laredopetro.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release and any oral statements made regarding the contents of this release contain forward-looking statements as defined under Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that address activities that Laredo assumes, plans, expects, believes, intends, projects, indicates, enables, transforms, estimates or anticipates (and other similar expressions) will, should or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s current belief, based on currently available information, as to the outcome and timing of future events.General risks relating to Laredo include, but are not limited to, the decline in prices of oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas and the related impact to financial statements as a result of asset impairments and revisions to reserve estimates, oil production quotas or other actions that might be imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producing countries (“OPEC+”), the outbreak of disease, such as the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, and any related government policies and actions, changes in domestic and global production, supply and demand for commodities, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions by OPEC+, long-term performance of wells, drilling and operating risks, the increase in service and supply costs, tariffs on steel, pipeline transportation and storage constraints in the Permian Basin, the possibility of production curtailment, hedging activities, the impacts of severe weather, including the freezing of wells and pipelines in the Permian Basin due to cold weather, possible impacts of litigation and regulations, the impact of the Company’s transactions, if any, with its securities from time to time, the impact of new laws and regulations, including those regarding the use of hydraulic fracturing, the impact of new environmental, health and safety requirements applicable to the Company’s business activities, the possibility of the elimination of federal income tax deductions for oil and gas exploration and development and other factors, including those and other risks described in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and those set forth from time to time in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). These documents are available through Laredo’s website at www.laredopetro.com under the tab “Investor Relations” or through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval System at www.sec.gov. Any of these factors could cause Laredo’s actual results and plans to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, Laredo can give no assurance that its future results will be as estimated. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. Laredo does not intend to, and disclaims any obligation to, correct update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
The SEC generally permits oil and natural gas companies, in filings made with the SEC, to disclose proved reserves, which are reserve estimates that geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions, and certain probable and possible reserves that meet the SEC’s definitions for such terms. In this press release and the conference call, the Company may use the terms “resource potential,” “resource play,” “estimated ultimate recovery” or “EURs,” “type curve” and “standardized measure,” each of which the SEC guidelines restrict from being included in filings with the SEC without strict compliance with SEC definitions. These terms refer to the Company’s internal estimates of unbooked hydrocarbon quantities that may be potentially discovered through exploratory drilling or recovered with additional drilling or recovery techniques. “Resource potential” is used by the Company to refer to the estimated quantities of hydrocarbons that may be added to proved reserves, largely from a specified resource play potentially supporting numerous drilling locations. A “resource play” is a term used by the Company to describe an accumulation of hydrocarbons known to exist over a large areal expanse and/or thick vertical section potentially supporting numerous drilling locations, which, when compared to a conventional play, typically has a lower geological and/or commercial development risk. “EURs” are based on the Company’s previous operating experience in a given area and publicly available information relating to the operations of producers who are conducting operations in these areas. Unbooked resource potential and “EURs” do not constitute reserves within the meaning of the Society of Petroleum Engineer’s Petroleum Resource Management System or SEC rules and do not include any proved reserves. Actual quantities of reserves that may be ultimately recovered from the Company’s interests may differ substantially from those presented herein. Factors affecting ultimate recovery include the scope of the Company’s ongoing drilling program, which will be directly affected by the availability of capital, decreases in oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas prices, well spacing, drilling and production costs, availability and cost of drilling services and equipment, lease expirations, transportation constraints, regulatory approvals, negative revisions to reserve estimates and other factors, as well as actual drilling results, including geological and mechanical factors affecting recovery rates. “EURs” from reserves may change significantly as development of the Company’s core assets provides additional data.

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The board of advisers at the digital chamber is stuffed with former federal regulators, including a former member of Congress and a recent chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, J. Christopher Giancarlo, who was named to the board of BlockFi, a financial services company that tries to link cryptocurrencies with traditional wealth managers.Max Baucus, the Democratic former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Jim Messina, a former top Obama adviser, also have recently been named to senior industry posts.Lobbying disclosure records show that at least 65 contracts as of early 2021 addressed industry matters such as digital currency, cryptocurrency or blockchain, up from about 20 in 2019. Some of the biggest spenders on lobbying include Ripple, Coinbase — the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States — and trade groups like the Blockchain Association.The lobbying burst is one of several recent signs nationwide that the industry is becoming a bigger presence in the economy. FTX, the cryptocurrency trading firm, is spending $135 million to secure the naming rights to the home arena of the Miami Heat.The billionaire Elon Musk, who hosted “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, was asked about Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency featuring the face of a Shiba Inu dog that was created as a joke but has recently surged in value. “It’s the future of currency. It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world,” Mr. Musk said, before adding, “Yeah, it’s a hustle.” The price of Dogecoin plunged nearly 35 percent in the hours after the show aired.With the industry’s hires of recent government officials, claims of conflicts of interest are already starting to emerge.Jay Clayton, who was the S.E.C. chairman until December, is now a paid adviser to the hedge fund One River Digital Asset Management, which invests hundreds of millions in Bitcoin and Ether, two cryptocurrencies, for its clients. Mr. Clayton declined to comment.

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