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Business

Dow Jones Futures Rise After Housing Data; Tesla Plunges On Reduced Production Schedule

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Dow Jones futures rose Tuesday morning, with an early dose of economic data set to launch the short, final trading week of the year. China-based stocks rallied as that nation further eased its Covid restrictions. Tesla stock dived more than 6% after Reuters reported that the electric-vehicle giant plans to run a reduced production schedule at its Shanghai plant in January.




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Tuesday’s economic data includes two housing reports, with Case-Shiller home price index and FHFA House Price Index — both out at 9 a.m. ET — along with the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey out at 10:30 a.m. ET

October’s Case-Shiller home price index came in better than estimates, but still fell 0.5% after September’s 1.2% decline, and a year-over-year increase of 8.6%. Meanwhile, the FHFA House Price Index was flat for October, with a 9.8% year-over-year rise.

Finally, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey is expected to post a -11.0 reading in December vs. -14.4 in the previous month.

On the earnings front, the schedule is bare this week heading into the final week of 2022, with Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) the sole reporter on Wednesday after the close.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) declined more than 3% after the company canceled more than two-thirds of its flights Monday, with plans to cut its schedules on Tuesday and Wednesday due to holiday winter storms.

EV giant Tesla (TSLA) dived more than 6% Tuesday. Dow Jones tech leaders Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) traded mixed ahead of today’s stock market open.

Medpace (MEDP), IBD Leaderboard stock Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX), O’Reilly Auto Parts (ORLY) and Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) — as well as Dow Jones names Amgen (AMGN) and Caterpillar (CAT) — are among the top stocks to consider for investor watchlists. Keep in mind the recent market weakness should keep investors on the defensive.

Neurocrine and Texas Roadhouse are IBD Leaderboard stocks. Caterpillar and Medpace were recent IBD Stock Of The Day companies.

IBD’s latest newsletter MarketDiem gives you actionable ideas for stocks, options and crypto right in your inbox

Dow Jones Today: Oil Prices, Treasury Yields

Ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, Dow Jones futures moved up 0.1% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures inched higher. Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures moved down 0.2% in morning action, with Tesla pulling hard to the downside while China names Trip.com (TCOM), Pinduoduo (PDD) and JD.com (JD) logged strong gains.

Among U.S. exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.2% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) moved up 0.5% early Tuesday.

Chinese authorities said the country would end its mandatory quarantine requirement for incoming travelers beginning on Jan. 8. Restrictions on the numbers of passengers and international flights will also be lifted. The latest step in China’s easing of strict Covid restrictions comes even as infections are reported to be spreading rapidly through the country.

China-based solar manufacturers posted some of the strongest early moves, with JinkoSolar (JKS) and Daqo New Energy (DQ) each up more than 4.5%. Among ETFs, KraneShares CSI China Internet (KWEB) jumped 2.3%. The iShares MSCI China (MCHI) added 2.2%.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher to 3.81% Tuesday morning, with the 10-year yield rising after last week’s strong gains. Meanwhile, U.S. oil prices traded up less than 1% Tuesday, as West Texas Intermediate futures traded just above $80 a barrel in morning trade.

Stock Market Rally Under Pressure

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed just 0.2%.

Friday’s The Big Picture column commented, “The Nasdaq composite also fought back from negative territory, though its gain was a miserly 0.2%. The tech-heavy index ended up slipping 1.9% for the week and it has work to do to break its downtrend. It is faring far worse than the S&P 500 this year, giving up nearly 34%.”

Now is an important time to read IBD’s The Big Picture column amid the ongoing stock market volatility.

Five Dow Jones Stocks To Buy And Watch Now

Dow Jones Stocks To Watch: Amgen, Caterpillar

Drugmaker Amgen continues to trace a flat base amid a three-week losing streak. And shares are below their 50-day line after sharp losses. For now, the correct buy point is 296.77, but the stock needs to decisively retake its 50-day first. AMGN stock traded a fraction higher Tuesday.

Dow Jones member Caterpillar broke out past a 239.95 buy point in a flat base last week, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition, and just a few cents below the entry following Friday’s advance. Bullishly, the stock’s relative strength line, a key technical indicator, is at new highs. CAT stock rose 0.3% Tuesday.

CAT stock shows a strong 98 out of a perfect 99 IBD Composite Rating, per the IBD Stock Checkup. The Composite Rating is designed to help investors easily find top growth stocks.

4 Top Growth Stocks To Watch In The Current Stock Market Rally

Top Stocks To Watch: Medpace, Neurocrine, O’Reilly, Texas Roadhouse

Medpace bounced sharply from its 50-day line last week, with a gain of 3.3%. The stock rose 0.7% Friday to extend a win streak to four sessions. For now, the correct buy point looms at 235.82, but an earlier entry at 220.09 is also in play. MEDP stock was unchanged Tuesday.

IBD Leaderboard stock Neurocrine slipped 1.7% Friday, ending a five-day win streak that saw the biotech leader find support at its 50-day level. A strong rebound is bullish for the stock’s immediate prospects and the stock is likely forming the right side of a new base. NBIX stock was flat Tuesday.

O’Reilly Auto Parts was also finding much-needed support at its 50-day line last week and remains squarely above a 750.98 flat-base entry. A big rebound off the 50-day line could bring a follow-on entry point, but the market uptrend is under pressure right now, which increases the risk of buying stocks. A new base is likely forming, which will offer a new entry in the near future. ORLY shares were inactive Tuesday.

Texas Roadhouse shows a new buy point at 101.85 in a flat base, but is now consolidating below its 50-day line. The IBD Leaderboard stock will look to recover that key benchmark over the coming sessions, and the current two-day win streak is a promising start. TXRH stock traded unchanged Tuesday morning.

Stocks To Watch

These are four top stocks to watch in today’s stock market, including two Dow Jones leaders.

Company Name Symbol Correct Buy Point Type Of Base
Medpace (MEDP) 235.82 Consolidation
Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) 101.85 Flat base
Caterpillar (CAT) 239.95 Flat base
Amgen (AMGN) 296.77 Flat base
Source: IBD Data As Of Dec. 27, 2022

Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live

Tesla Stock

Tesla stock declined another 2% Friday, extending a losing streak to six sessions and hitting another 52-week low. Last week, Tesla shares dived 18% to hit a new 52-week low price at 121.02. Shares closed about 69% off their 52-week high.

Shares extended their losses Tuesday morning, diving another 6% after Reuters reported Tesla extended its production cuts that began this month into next year. Tesla stock is set to hit a new low, trading below 116 a share in premarket trade.

Tesla reportedly suspended production at its Shanghai plant on Saturday, hurrying its plan to pause production at the plant at the end of December.

Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft

Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple shares dropped 0.3% Friday, closing just shy of their 52-week low, which was set on June 16 at 129.04. The stock is around 28% off its 52-week high. Shares lost a fraction Tuesday.

Microsoft stock rose 0.2% Friday, but remains below the 50-day line after last week’s 2.4% decline. The software giant remains about 30% off its 52-week high. MSFT stock moved up 0.3% early Tuesday.

Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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Top Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch

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How To Research Growth Stocks: Why This IBD Tool Simplifies The Search For Top Stocks



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Sports

Trevor Bauer suspension: Dodgers pitcher reinstated immediately after ban reduced from 324 games to 194

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An arbitrator has reduced Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer’s suspension under the league’s domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy from 324 games to 194 games, Major League Baseball announced Thursday night. It is still the longest suspension under the policy in league history. 

“We have just been informed of the arbitrator’s ruling and will comment as soon as practical,” the Dodgers said in a statement after the league’s announcement. 

Bauer’s reinstatement off the restricted list is effective immediately, though Rule 2(c) gives the Dodgers two weeks to officially put him back on their roster. They have until Jan. 6 to activate Bauer or release him. The Dodgers will owe Bauer his 2022 salary no matter what, though they reportedly plan to release him rather than add him to their active roster.

Here is MLB’s statement:

“Today, the neutral arbitrator selected by MLB and the MLBPA affirmed that Trevor Bauer violated Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

“After an exhaustive review of the available evidence the neutral arbitrator upheld an unpaid suspension of 194 games. As part of the decision, the arbitrator reinstated Mr. Bauer effectively immediately, with a loss of pay covering the 144 games he was suspended during the 2022 season. In addition, the arbitrator docked Bauer’s salary for the first 50 games of the 2023 season (i.e., the period covering March 30, 2023 to May 23, 2023). While we believe a longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision, which upholds baseball’s longest-ever active player suspension for sexual assault or domestic violence.

“We understand this process was difficult for the witnesses involved and we thank them for their participation. Due to the collectively bargained confidentiality provisions of the joint program, we are unable to provide further details at this time.”

Bauer, 31, has not pitched since June 28, 2021. Days after that start, he was accused of assault and placed on administrative leave by MLB while it conducted an investigation. The Pasadena Police Department undertook its own inquiry, but announced on Feb. 8 that Bauer would not face criminal charges in relation to the allegations. The league’s collectively bargained domestic violence policy allowed MLB to discipline Bauer even though no criminal charges were filed.  

In late June 2021, The Athletic reported details of a woman’s encounters with Bauer, which she says were initially consensual. “I agreed to have consensual sex; however, I did not agree or consent to what he did next. I did not agree to be sexually assaulted,” the woman said. The Athletic’s report, which includes graphic details from a restraining order request, including allegations that Bauer strangled and punched the woman, can be found here.

Bauer, the 2020 NL Cy Young winner, made 17 starts with the Dodgers in 2021 before being placed on leave. The Dodgers signed him to a three-year contract worth $102 million in February 2021. The contract included opt-out clauses after each season. Bauer will lose $37.5 million of the $102 million to the suspension. It would have been roughly $60 million had the full 324-game suspension remained in place.

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Entertainment

Man accused of murdering Migos member Takeoff asks for $2M bail to be reduced to $100K

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Man accused of murdering Migos member Takeoff asks for $2M bail to be reduced to $100K and says he will live with his parents

  • Suspect Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, said he would follow all curfews and related rules ordered by the court and wear a GPS 
  • Clark was arrested December 1 and charged in the murder of the rapper 
  • Takeoff was fatally shot at 28 outside of a Houston bowling alley November 1 

By Adam S. Levy For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

The suspect in the murder of Migos rapper Takeoff on Monday asked a Texas court to reduce his bail from $2 million to $100,000.

Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, told the court via his lawyer Carl Moore that he cannot afford the $2 million bail, TMZ reported after reviewing documents in the case, and believes that he can raise $100,000 in an effort with a bail bondsman.

Clark told the court that he would live with his parents, follow all curfews and related rules ordered by the court, wear a GPS monitor and abide by any ‘no-contact’ orders, according to the outlet. 

The latest: The suspect in the murder of Migos rapper Takeoff, Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, (R) on Monday asked a Texas court to reduce his bail from $2 million to $100,000

He also said he would surrender his passport in connection with the case, which is centered around the fatal shooting of the rapper at the age of 28 outside of a Houston bowling alley November 1.

The outlet previously reported that Clark – who was requested a the court grant him a sum of $5,000 so he can hire a private investigator to assist with his legal defense.

Clark – who was arrested December 1 and charged in the murder of the rapper – told the court that his family has emptied their savings in hiring a lawyer to handle the case, and that he needs a private investigator who can ‘properly investigate [Clark’s] case and to prepare effectively for trial.’

According to authorities in the wake of Clark’s arrest, if the murder suspect made his bail, he would be put on house arrest; barred from owning any firearms or deadly weapons; not allowed to use marijuana or any controlled substance without a prescription; and prohibited from contacting people including Takeoff’s survivors and boxer Shakur Stevenson, who was present at the time of the deadly shooting.

Clark was arrested December 1 and charged in the murder of the rapper 

Takeoff was snapped in Atlanta this past April at a birthday party for bandmate Quavo

A celebration of life ceremony was held in Atlanta at the State Farm Arena last month to honor the late musical artist

NBC News reported that the court granted the request, ordering authorities with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to speak with the custody in suspect and bring a laptop, printer and device to record audio with.

Takeoff, whose real name is Kirshnik Khari Ball, died as result of ‘gunshot wounds of head and torso into arm’ in the wake of a private party held at 810 Billiards & Bowling, officials said. Gunshots were fired near the entrance of the establishment in the wake of a row after a dice game.

Houston Police Department Sgt. Michael Burrow said that Takeoff wasn’t involved in the game or the confrontation and ‘an innocent bystander’ in the incident.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that the late musical artist was ‘definitely [in the] wrong place at the wrong time,’ and that there is ‘no evidence whatsoever to say anything different.’

In announcing the arrest of Clark earlier this month, Finner said a man named Cameron Joshua was also taken into custody in connection with an unlawful carrying of a weapon charge.

Finner said of Joshua: ‘He was there on the scene, and he was in possession of a weapon. He’s a felon.’

The next hearing in the case involving Clark is slated to take place Wednesday. 

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World

Zelenskyy says Russia has reduced Bakhmut city to a ‘burnt ruin’ | Russia-Ukraine war News

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Russian attacks have turned the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut into “burnt ruins”, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, while Ukraine’s military has reported missile, rocket and drone attacks in multiple parts of the country that have killed civilians and destroyed critical infrastructure.

Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the situation “remains very difficult” in several front-line cities in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.

“Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka, Kreminna. For a long time, there is no living place left on the land of these areas that have not been damaged by shells and fire,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, naming cities that have again found themselves under sustained Russian barrages.

“The occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins,” he said.

Zelenskyy also said that more than 1.5 million people were without power in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa after a night attack by drones.

“After the night strike by Iranian drones, Odesa and other cities and villages of the region are in darkness,” Zelenskyy said.

“As of now, more than one and a half million people in Odesa region are without electricity.”

Ukrainian service members carry weapons in Bakhmut as Russia’s attack continues in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on December 7, 2022 [Yevhen Titov/Reuters]

Ukraine’s military on Saturday also reported raids in other provinces: Kharkiv and Sumy in the northeast, central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia in the southeast and Kherson in the south.

Approximately 20 air attacks and more than 60 rocket attacks hit targets across Ukraine between Friday and Saturday, the Ukrainian military’s General Staff reported earlier.

Writing on Telegram, the deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said two civilians died, and another eight were wounded during dozens of mortar, rocket and artillery attacks over the previous day. Residential areas, a hospital, shops, warehouses and critical infrastructure in the Kherson region were damaged, he said.

To the west, the overnight drone attack left much of Odesa province, including its namesake Black Sea port city, without electricity when several energy facilities were destroyed at once, leaving all customers except hospitals, maternity homes, boiler plants and pumping stations without power, electric company DTEK said Saturday.

The Odesa regional administration’s energy department said late Saturday that fully restoring electricity could take as long as three months, and it urged families whose homes are without power to leave the region if possible.

‘Most active fighting’ – Bakhmut

The spokesperson for Ukraine’s General Staff, Oleksandr Shtupun, said the most active fighting was in the Bakhmut district, where more than 20 populated places came under Russian fire.

Russia has battered Bakhmut with rockets for more than half of the year, but some analysts have questioned Russia’s strategic logic in the relentless pursuit to take Bakhmut and surrounding areas that also came under intense shelling in the past weeks, and where Ukrainian officials reported that some residents who remained in the area were living in basements.

“The costs associated with six months of brutal, grinding, and attrition-based combat around #Bakhmut far outweigh any operational advantage that the #Russians can obtain from taking Bakhmut,” the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, DC, posted on its Twitter feed on Thursday.

The Institute also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to frame stalled discussions as a way of “separating Ukraine from its Western supporters by portraying Kyiv as unwilling to compromise or even to engage in serious talks” to bring peace.

Putin is both warning that he is preparing for a lengthy war in Ukraine while also claiming that Russia is open to peace negotiations.

 

The Russian Defence Ministry said Saturday that its troops also pressed their Donbas offensive in the direction of the Donetsk city of Lyman, which is 65km (40 miles) north of Bakhmut.



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Business

Live news: US natural gas price drops 10% on reduced expectations for fuel demand

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Russia’s defence ministry has said that two explosions that hit its air bases in central Russia early on Monday morning were the result of Ukrainian drone attacks, which it claimed to have intercepted.

The drones flew at low altitude, it said, and were shot down, but the resulting explosions killed three at the Ryazan air base and led to some superficial damage of aircraft, the ministry said.

Earlier on Monday, videos appeared on Russian social media channels showing a large-scale explosion in the Saratov region, and state media reported a fuel tanker explosion at the Ryazan site.

“In an attempt to to disable Russian long-range aircraft, Ukraine tried to strike military airfield ‘Dyagilevo’ in the Ryazan region and ‘Engels’ in the Saratov region, using Soviet-made jet unmanned aerial vehicles,” the defence ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Ukrainian officials did not immediately take clear credit for the drone strikes on the two Russian airbases. In a Telegram channel post, Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor in the Zelenskyy administration, mocked Russia’s forces by suggesting the explosions could have been caused by their troops smoking too close to flammable objects.

Despite the attack, Russia was able to launch yet another large-scale bombardment across Ukraine, the Russian ministry said.

“Despite the attempts of the Kyiv regime to disrupt the combat work of the Russian long-range aviation with a terrorist act, today . . . a massive strike was carried out,” it said.

The Ukrainian drone attack represents a significant blow to the perceived invulnerability of Russian positions far from the frontline.
It also confirms one of the main conclusions of a recent report by the Royal United Services Institute in London think tank, which is widely considered the most accurate rendering of the conflict so far.

“There is no sanctuary in modern war,” the report concluded. “The first clear lesson from the war in Ukraine is that the enemy can conduct strikes on targets throughout its adversary’s operational depth with long-range precision fires.”

While Russian missile strikes have been penetrating deep into Ukrainian territory, this would be the furthest that Ukraine has struck by a long margin.

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Business

Downtown S.F.’s condo market is cratering, with units selling at reduced prices

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San Francisco’s listless, post-COVID recovery is hammering the downtown condo market, with owners increasingly willing to sell at a discount amid ongoing tech layoffs and office closures, according to a new report from the real estate brokerage Compass.

Median condo sales prices in the greater downtown and South of Market district — which includes Civic Center, SoMa, Mission Bay, Yerba Buena and South Beach — are down 16.5% from a year ago, according to the report. Since December of last year, the condo median sales price dropped from $1.475 million to $1.23 million in those neighborhoods.

The drop in the median prices in downtown neighborhoods was double that of other parts of the city. Outside of downtown, median price of condos dropped 7% in the last year, while single family homes dropped 7.5%.

While real estate brokerages tend to be rosy in their marketing materials, the Compass report doesn’t sugarcoat the current situation. It concludes that the drop in demand is being driven by “a triple whammy of economic, demographic and quality-of-life issues.”

“I knew that market segment had weakened but I didn’t realize the degree to which things had changed,” said Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst for Compass. “It was a bit shocking.”

The problems are both macro and micro.

On the national level you have a declining stock market, rising interest rates and inflation. Meanwhile downtown San Francisco is lagging other cities in office occupancy, and the lack of foot traffic is crippling small business and making the streets feel less safe. The highrise housing that sprouted South of Market Street over the last 20 years was meant to serve the hundreds of thousands of workers who flooded into the city each morning. With those jobs gone remote, demand for housing has waned.

“San Francisco went from being the hottest office market in the world to just about the weakest,” said Carlisle.

Two recent reports of sales at Lumina, a two-tower luxury complex South of Market, show how the market has shifted, according to an analysis by Socketsite, an online publication that tracks San Francisco real estate.

The first involves a 1,791 square foot, three-bedroom, three-bath unit on the 32nd floor of the tower at 338 Main St. That unit sold for $3.25 million in May of 2016 and then traded again in August of 2019 for $3.5 million. In September of this year it hit the block again with a listing price of $3.15 million, before finally selling in November for $2.68 million, a drop of 23.4% since 2019.

Meanwhile a two-bedroom unit in the same tower is being marketed at $2.6 million, which, if it sells at that price, would represent a 21% decrease from its 2016 price of $3.295 million.

While the current market presents an opportunity for buyers, the rise of interest rates to a 20-year high offsets whatever savings might be gained through the lower price point, Carlisle said. But for buyers with cash for a down payment, or those willing to gamble that they will be able to refinance at a lower interest rate down the road, there are opportunities.

“This is a great time for buyers to negotiate extremely aggressively,” he said. “If you see a unit you like just ignore the asking price and decide what you are willing to pay for it. There are a lot of sellers who just want to move on. If they are able to close a deal, they will, even if it is far below expectations.”

Realtor Kevin Birmingham of Park North Real Estate said the report is consistent with what he is seeing around the city. He just sold one condo in the Twin Peaks area that was marketed at $695,000. It closed at $680,000. The seller expected to get $800,000.

As such, many would-be sellers are looking to rent their units. “Listing are getting withdrawn and going straight onto the rental market,” Birmingham said.

Gregg Lynn of Sotheby’s International Realty, who focuses on the luxury condo market, said the optimism of 2021 — when San Franciscans were getting vaccinated and starting to feel comfortable in crowds again — has given was to uncertainty.

Some families who bought before the pandemic expecting to split their time between San Francisco and wine country or Tahoe have found they don’t have much reason to come to the city. Others bought downtown condos to be near their children and grandchildren, only to have their offspring leave the city.

“A lot of our clients are not using their condos as much as they thought they would,” he said.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen

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Health

ADHD Medication for Amphetamine Addiction Linked to Reduced Risk of Hospitalization and Death

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Summary: Lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse), a medication commonly used to treat ADHD, lowers the risk of hospitalization and death for those with amphetamine use disorder.

Source: Karolinska Institute

The ADHD medication lisdexamfetamine was associated with the lowest risk of hospitalization and death in people with amphetamine addiction, when medications generally used among persons with substance use disorders were compared.

This is shown in a large registry-based study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden in collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland and Niuvanniemi Hospital, published in JAMA Psychiatry.

“Our results suggest that lisdexamfetamine is associated with the best outcomes, and encourage the conduction of randomized controlled trials to explore this further,” says Jari Tiihonen, professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, and the study’s last author.

Amphetamines are the second most used illicit drugs in the world and amphetamine-related hospitalizations are increasing substantially.

However, there are currently no approved pharmacological interventions available for treating addiction to amphetamine or the variant methamphetamine. Certain medications have shown promising results, but to date, the studies have often been small and convincing evidence is lacking.

In the present study, the researchers investigated the association between generally used medications among persons with substance use disorder and the risk of two primary outcomes in people with amphetamine or methamphetamine use disorder: 1) hospitalization due to substance use disorder or 2) hospitalization due to any cause, or death.

The study included nearly 14,000 individuals; all residents aged 16 to 64 years living in Sweden with a registered first-time diagnosis of amphetamine or methamphetamine use disorder from July 2006 to December 2018. Individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were excluded.

The patients were followed from the time of diagnosis until the patient died, moved from Sweden, was diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or the study ended. The median follow-up time was 3.9 years.

The researchers looked at how the risk of hospitalization or death for each individual differed depending on whether they were on or off the medication at that time.

Amphetamines are the second most used illicit drugs in the world and amphetamine-related hospitalizations are increasing substantially. Credit: Champlax

“Our results show that lisdexamfetamine, a medication approved for treating ADHD and in some countries also for binge eating, was the only specific medication associated with reduced risk of hospitalization and death,” says the study’s first author Milja Heikkinen, researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and Niuvanniemi Hospital.

The risk of hospitalization due to substance use disorder was 18% lower and the risk of hospitalization due to any cause or death was 14% lower during periods of lisdexamfetamine use, compared to periods without the ADHD medication.

The combination of two or more different medications for substance use disorder was also associated with a lower risk of hospitalization or death.

Use of benzodiazepines was associated with poorer outcomes; 17% higher risk of hospitalization due to substance use disorder and 20% higher risk of hospitalization due to any cause or death, during periods of use compared to periods of non-use. The use of antidepressants was also associated with slightly worse outcomes than non-use.

The researchers note that pharmacological treatments are often discontinued when the clinical state has improved, and are started when the clinical state deteriorates.

Therefore, the results may underestimate the putative beneficial effect of treatments. To control for this phenomenon, the researchers conducted analyses by omitting the first 30 days of use. The results were then in line with the main analyses.

About this psychopharmacology and addiction research news

Author: Press Office
Source: Karolinska Institute
Contact: Press Office – Karolinska Institute
Image: The image is credited to Champlax

Original Research: Open access.
“Association of Pharmacological Treatments and Hospitalization and Death in Individuals With Amphetamine Use Disorders in a Swedish Nationwide Cohort of 13 965 Patients” by Milja Heikkinen et al. JAMA Psychiatry

Abstract

Association of Pharmacological Treatments and Hospitalization and Death in Individuals With Amphetamine Use Disorders in a Swedish Nationwide Cohort of 13 965 Patients

Importance  

There are no medications approved by authorities for the treatment of amphetamine or methamphetamine dependence, and studies investigating the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments in hard outcomes, such as hospitalization and death, are lacking.

Objective  

See also

To investigate the association between pharmacotherapies and hospitalization and mortality outcomes in persons with amphetamine or methamphetamine use disorder.

Design, Setting, and Participants  

This nationwide register-based cohort study was conducted from July 2006 to December 2018 with a median (IQR) follow-up time of 3.9 (1.0-6.1) years. Data were analyzed from December 1, 2021, to May 24, 2022. All residents aged 16 to 64 years living in Sweden with a registered first-time diagnosis of amphetamine or methamphetamine use disorder and without previous diagnoses of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were identified from nationwide registers of inpatient care, specialized outpatient care, sickness absence, and disability pension.

Exposures  

Medications for substance use disorders (SUDs) or for attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder, mood stabilizers, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and related drugs, and antipsychotics. Medication use vs nonuse was modeled with the PRE2DUP (from prescription drug purchases to drug use periods) method.

Main Outcomes and Measures  

Primary outcomes were hospitalization due to SUD and any hospitalization or death, which were analyzed using within-individual models by comparing use and nonuse periods of 17 specific medications or medication classes in the same individual to minimize selection bias. The secondary outcome was all-cause mortality, studied using between-individual analysis as traditional Cox models.

Results  

There were 13 965 individuals in the cohort (9671 [69.3%] male; mean [SD] age, 34.4 [13.0] years). During follow-up, 7543 individuals (54.0%) were taking antidepressants, 6101 (43.7%) benzodiazepines, 5067 (36.3%) antipsychotics, 3941 (28.2%) ADHD medications (1511 [10.8%] were taking lisdexamphetamine), 2856 (20.5%) SUD medications, and 1706 (12.2%) mood stabilizers. A total of 10 341 patients (74.0%) were hospitalized due to SUDs, 11 492 patients (82.3%) were hospitalized due to any cause or died, and 1321 patients (9.5%) died of any cause. Lisdexamphetamine was the only medication in this study that was significantly associated with a decrease in risk of 3 outcomes (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72-0.94 for SUD hospitalization; aHR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.78-0.95 for any hospitalization or death; aHR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.24-0.77 for all-cause mortality). Methylphenidate use also was associated with lower all-cause mortality (aHR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.43-0.74). Use of benzodiazepines was associated with a significantly higher risk of SUD hospitalization (aHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.12-1.22), any hospitalization or death (aHR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.17-1.24), and all-cause mortality (aHR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.20-1.60). Use of antidepressants or antipsychotics was associated with a slight increase in risk of SUD hospitalization (aHR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03-1.11 and aHR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09) as well as any hospitalization or death (aHR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.06-1.14 and aHR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.03-1.10, respectively).

Conclusions and Relevance  

In this study, use of lisdexamphetamine was associated with improved outcomes in persons with amphetamine or methamphetamine use disorders, encouraging the conduct of randomized clinical trials. Prescription benzodiazepine use was associated with poor outcomes.

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Health

Drinking tea linked to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes

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New research presented at the 2022 European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting has analyzed data from nearly 20 studies encompassing one million adults and found a link between drinking tea and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. But it all depends on how much tea you drink.

Over the years plenty of research has accumulated citing the potential health benefits of tea, from improving cardiovascular health to reducing the risk of cancer. This new research set out to try and clarify one particularly uncertain topic – the relationship between tea drinking and the risk of type 2 diabetes.

A two-part review of pre-existing research was conducted. The first stage was a cohort study looking at data from more than 5,000 adults followed who were for 12 years. Around half the cohort reported drinking tea, but by the end of the follow-up period there were similar rates of type 2 diabetes in both tea drinkers and non-drinkers.

So the next part of the research set out to explore whether there was a dose-response aspect to tea drinking and diabetes. Looking at 19 studies with detailed data on tea-drinking frequency the researchers discovered the risk of type 2 diabetes declined relative to the amount of tea a person was regularly drinking.

While people who drank one to three cups of tea per day were 4% less likely to develop diabetes compared to non-drinkers, those consuming at least four cups a day reduced their risk of diabetes by 17%.

Lead author on the research Xiaying Li said the diabetes risk reduction was observed even after accounting for gender, geographical location and type of tea consumed. Li said this suggests something in tea may be specifically reducing a person’s risk of diabetes.

“It is possible that particular components in tea, such as polyphenols, may reduce blood glucose levels, but a sufficient amount of these bioactive compounds may be needed to be effective,” speculated Li. “It may also explain why we did not find an association between tea drinking and type 2 diabetes in our cohort study, because we did not look at higher tea consumption.”

Of course, these findings come with plenty of caveats. The research is not yet peer-reviewed or published in a journal, and it’s based on self-reported dietary questionnaires, which can’t track in detail long-term food habits. Plus, the data offers no insight into the varieties of ways people drink tea. For example, does drinking tea with or without milk influence diabetes risk?

Speaking to The Guardian, Li speculated milk in tea could enhance the health benefits of tea. However, a 2002 study found milk can actually decrease the insulin-enhancing activity of tea, suggesting the dairy product may counteract the diabetes-preventing benefits of tea.

“While more research needs to be done to determine the exact dosage and mechanisms behind these observations, our findings suggest that drinking tea is beneficial in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, but only at high doses (at least 4 cups a day)”, concluded Li.

Source: Diabetologia

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Business

Lucid Motors has drastically reduced its production target, again

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Luxury EV startup Lucid Motors changed its yearly production target again, lowering it to an expected output of between 6,000 and 7,000 vehicles, the company announced today. That’s only a fraction of the 20,000 cars that Lucid initially promised to deliver in 2022. The Tesla competitor has only produced 1,405 vehicles so far this year, giving it a mere four months to build thousands of new cars.

Supply chain woes and a shortage of parts and raw materials are to blame for the slow output, the company claims. In a call with investors, the California-based company’s CEO Peter Rawlinson said it is planning a number of structural changes to amp up production. “Our revised production guidance reflects the extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges we encountered,” said Rawlinson. “We’ve identified the primary bottlenecks, and we are taking appropriate measures – bringing our logistics operations in-house, adding key hires to the executive team, and restructuring our logistics and manufacturing organization.”

On top of ongoing production struggles, this May the company was forced to recall all of its 2022 Air EVs due to wiring issues — a total of over 1,000 cars. Such challenges haven’t appeared to impact demand for the luxury vehicles. So far, there have been 37,000 reservations for Lucid Motor’s all-electric sedan, the Lucid Air, the company disclosed in the . On top of that, Lucid plans to sell over 100,000 cars to the government of Saudi Arabia — which poured over into the company and owns a 62 percent stake.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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World

Putin Signals Gas Pipeline Will Resume at Reduced Levels

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BERLIN — When the main natural gas artery between Russia and Germany, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, was taken off-line last week for 10 days of scheduled maintenance, European leaders began bracing for the possibility that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would not switch it back on as retaliation for opposing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

But Mr. Putin has suggested that the gas will resume flowing to Europe after the work on the pipeline — controlled by Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom — finishes on Thursday, though he warned that supplies might be further curtailed.

The European Commission called on the bloc’s 27 members to immediately begin taking steps to reduce gas consumption by 15 percent. “Russia is blackmailing us. Russia is using energy as a weapon,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the commission, told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.

But analysts have pointed out that if Russia ceased gas flows to Europe, the country would lose an element of leverage in the economic battle it has waged against the continent since the invasion of Ukraine, allowing Mr. Putin to exert control over supplies and prices.

Speaking to reporters late Tuesday in Tehran after meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, Mr. Putin warned that Gazprom would send only “half of the volume intended” through the Nord Stream pipeline. Before it was shut down on July 11 for annual maintenance, flows had already been reduced to 40 percent of capacity.

Maintaining such a reduced flow of natural gas could be advantageous to the Russian leader, analysts said, allowing him to keep Europeans in a protracted state of uncertainty and near panic. Russia has already ceased gas deliveries through other major pipelines to Europe that cross Poland and Ukraine.

“To the extent that Putin maintains some gas flows on Nord Stream 1, he enjoys both income and leverage,” said David L. Goldwyn, a former senior State Department energy diplomat who served in the first term of the Obama administration. “Once he cuts off supply, he loses both and there is no turning back.”

European gas prices have soared to three or four times those of a year ago, causing a jump in inflation and raising concerns over social unrest once temperatures begin to drop.

The European Union imported 45 percent of its natural gas from Russia last year. That fell to only 28 percent in the first three months of this year. At the same time, overall gas imports in the bloc increased, driven largely by a 72 percent jump in purchases of liquefied natural gas.

Gazprom has blamed reduced flows through Nord Stream on a turbine that was sent to Montreal for repairs and could not be returned because of sanctions against Russia. German officials disputed Gazprom’s claim that the turbine could have caused such a cut in flows.

Since then, the German government has secured the return of the equipment, which was made and repaired by Siemens Energy at a plant in Canada. But Mr. Putin said that another one of the turbines in the six compressors near Russia’s Baltic Sea coast was now in need of refurbishing and indicated there were also problems with several others.

“If one more comes, then it’s good, two will work. And if it does not come, there will be one, it will be only 30 million cubic meters per day,” he told reporters. That’s less than 20 percent of the pipeline’s capacity of 160 million cubic meters of gas a day, or 5,600 million cubic feet.

Records on a Nord Stream website indicated that a tiny amount of gas flowed through the pipeline on Tuesday afternoon, in an apparent test. A site run by the Gascade network provider showed that capacity had been booked through Nord Stream for Thursday. These aren’t guarantees that the gas will flow, but it could indicate Russia’s continued interest in piping gas to Europe.

Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University, said keeping a low flow through Nord Stream could strengthen Russia’s position and even weaken Europe’s resolve if the war dragged on.

“Maintaining Europe’s energy dependency on Russia and stoking uncertainty about natural gas supplies, which can only help in boosting prices,” he said, are among the reasons Mr. Putin would want to keep Nord Stream online. There is the added attraction, Mr. Prasad said, of being able “to some extent control Europe’s economic destiny.”

But a return of flows from Russia this week is no guarantee that they will continue in the future or be sufficient for Germany and its European partners to meet their goals to fill gas storage tanks to 80 percent capacity by the beginning of November. In Germany, where half the homes are heated by natural gas and the fuel is necessary for the chemical, steel and paper industries, storage levels reached 65 percent by Wednesday — just above the European average.

This week, Ms. von der Leyen traveled to Azerbaijan to secure a deal to double the imports of Azeri natural gas to at least 20 billion cubic meters (706 billion cubic feet) a year by 2027 as part of efforts across Europe to secure gas from sources beyond Russia.

Germany has turned to the Netherlands and Norway for more gas, as well as buying more liquefied natural gas from the United States and Qatar. But none of Europe’s 26 L.N.G. terminals, which are needed to convert the gas from its deep-chilled state back into a gas, are in Germany.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister and vice chancellor, has secured 2.94 billion euros to rent four floating L.N.G. terminals. The first are scheduled to be in operation by the end of the year.

But if Europe faces an unusually cold winter, that might not be soon enough to ensure that Germany keeps its homes heated and factories running. Germany has already activated two steps of a three-stage “gas emergency” plan, bringing back coal-fired power plants to replace those run by gas and running through scenarios of what would happen if the gas is cut off entirely.

To some observers, the panic of recent weeks is exactly what Mr. Putin wants.

“Will he give us gas? Will he cut the flow? Europe is hanging on Putin’s lips again,” Janis Kluge, an analyst on Russia with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, wrote on Twitter. “However the Nord Stream 1 saga continues, he is definitely loving every part of it.”

Melissa Eddy reported from Berlin, and Patricia Cohen from London. Matina Stevis-Gridneff contributed reporting from Brussels, and Anton Troianovski from Berlin.



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