McDonald's investor renews push for antibiotic reduction in all meat

Dear Viewers,
McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) shareholder is redoubling efforts to convince the fast-food chain to stop all of its global restaurants from serving the meat of animals raised with antibiotics that are vital for fighting human infections.
More than 70 percent of medically important antibiotics in the United States are sold for livestock use. Scientists have warned that the routine use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent illness in healthy farms animals contributes to the rise of dangerous, antibiotic-resistant "superbug" infections, which kill at least 23,000 Americans each year and pose a significant threat to global health.
The Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, asked directors at McDonald's to prohibit the use of medically important antibiotics in its global poultry supply chain. McDonald's already has adopted that policy for the chicken served in its U.S. restaurants.
The group also asking the fast-food chain to set global targets and timelines for switching to pork and beef raised without the non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics.
Just over 20 percent of McDonald's shareholders voted in favor of a similar proposal at this year's annual meeting. The sisters pulled a prior resolution after McDonald's announced its plans to change its policies on chicken in the United States.
The sisters aim to have shareholders vote on the new proposal at McDonald's 2017 annual meeting.
McDonald's told Reuters it continues "to engage with key experts, including some who serve as advisors to the World Health Organization (WHO), to advance progress across the industry."
The company said its current policy "provides guidance to our suppliers in parts of the world where the industry does not yet have systems in place that would allow them to verify compliance throughout the supply chain."
Sister Susan Mika said the resolution is part of an ongoing process.
"I said we will be back," Mika said in a phone interview. "We want them to set goals and to be moving in a certain direction. We expect them to be a leader in taking on these questions of our time."

The sisters are part of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which along with ShareAction, Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative and As You Sow, also are targeting companies such as Sanderson Farms (SAFM.O) and Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) with similar campaigns aimed at preserving the efficacy of antibiotics. Thanks.

Volatility shorts cash in despite shock U.S. election

Dear Viewers,

NEW YORK Nov 10 Options traders who had bet that stock market volatility would plummet after the election made outsized gains even if Donald Trump's win seemed to take financial markets by surprise.

The CBOE Volatility Index, the most widely followed gauge of near-term investor anxiety, collapsed on Wednesday, in the largest one-day decline in more than five years.

While a drop in expectations for stock market volatility after a big news event is not unusual, the intensity of this pullback was.

"That's a truly remarkable turnaround in less than one full trading day," said Ophir Gottlieb, chief executive of Los Angeles-based Capital Market Laboratories.

VIX November futures contracts roared to a four-month high of 23.46 on Tuesday night as the results of the election began to favor Trump, counter to earlier expectations that the victor would be Democrat Hillary Clinton.

On Wednesday, the VIX closed down 23 percent at 14.38 and the November futures contracts fell 37 percent from their session peak.

The collapse in volatility was good news for options traders who went against the grain and bet on a decline in stock market volatility even as the options market grew more jittery as Election Day approached.

Even before Election Night, some traders were already betting that volatility would return to pre-election levels, strategists at BNP Paribas said in a note on Thursday.

On November 4, a record 769,214 VIX puts were traded, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Since the VIX usually moves inversely to the stock market and puts offer the opportunity to profit from a decline in the VIX, owning a VIX put is a bet on lower volatility.

The collapse in the VIX makes the value of these puts jump.

For instance, November VIX puts with a strike price of 17 traded as low as $1.05 on Friday. On Thursday, these contracts traded for as much as $3.

On Wednesday, these puts traded in heavy volume, including a large trade were a trader appeared to be selling 26,500 of the contracts for $2.25. While it is not clear when these contracts were bought, they traded for an average price of $1.66 in the two weeks before the election on November 8. Thanks.