Consumer confidence surveys point in opposite directions
This morning the consumer confidence survey from the Conference Board soared to the highest level since October 2000. The confidence index reading at 133.4 for August (up from 127.9 in July) beat all forecasts from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The present...
Randgold increases production, misses estimates on continued low price of gold
While I was on vacation I used the downtime to write posts on some of the earnings results that I missed during the very busy second quarter earnings season. This post was written on August 20 The relentless downward trend in the price of gold took a big bite out of...
White House announces trade deal with Mexico to replace NAFTA
If you’re looking for a reason for U.S. stocks to keep climbing from current highs, this morning’s event at the White House is a big deal. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. and Mexico have reached a bilateral trade agreement that would replace...
Incyte beats on revenue, misses on earnings; reports good progress in pipeline
I am on vacation until August 26. I am using that downtime to catch up on some of the earnings reports I missed during the very busy second quarter earnings season. On July 30 Incyte (INCY) reported second quarter earnings of 26 cents a share, 4 cents below the Wall...
Sector Monday for Sector Monday Week: The U.S. auto industry turned upside down
Sector Monday is my regular (or occasionally regular) post on the investible trends in a timely sector. I’m filling the first of the two weeks while I’m on break in Sicily (it’s nasty work but some has to do it) with a week of Sector Monday posts....
Sector Monday for Sector Monday Week: Streaming media market getting even more competitive, which is bad news for Netflix valuation
Sector Monday is my regular (or occasionally regular) post on the investible trends in a timely sector. I’m filling the first of the two weeks while I’m on break in Sicily (it’s nasty work but some has to do it) with a week of Sector Monday posts....
Buying Cummins today for my Dividend Portfolio
In my on-going Special Report: 10 Best Stocks in 10 Sectors (running on my JubakAM.com subscription site) I laid out the case for buying Cummins (CMI) now a a dividend stock with the expectation that as the current depression over the share price of industrial...
Buying Albermarle today for my Jubak Picks Portfolio
Who says the collapse of the Turkish lira and of the Turkish stock market isn’t good news for anyone? While it’s certainly true that the troubles in Turkey–which have become worse as the country’s relationship with the United States has tipped...
Core consumer inflation climbs at a 2.3% annual rate in July numbers
Granted the Federal Reserve watches the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index to measure inflation, but the big jump in the July Consumer Price Index should remove the last doubts (if any remain) about a September interest rate increase from the Fed. The headline...
More trade sanctions today–this time it’s Russia (with big implications for global oil supply)
The United States has imposed new sanctions on Russia as punishment for that country’s use of nerve agents in a March 4 attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the United Kingdom. The sanctions are required under the 1991 Chemical and Biological...
Middleby bounces back strong, up 14%, on Q2 earnings report today
That’s better. Today, before the market opened in New York, Middleby (MIDD) reported second quarter earnings of $1.63 a share. That was 7 cents a share above Wall Street projections and 20.&% higher than the $1.35 a share reported for the second quarter of...
Another day, another retaliatory tariff
Today the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced 25% tariffs on an additional $16 billion in U.S. exports. The tariffs will go into effect on August 23 and target cars, crude oil, medical instruments, natural gas, and coal along with hundreds of other items.. The tariffs...
China stocks bounce big, but there’s reason to think the recovery won’t stick
Stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied strongly today, Tuesday August 7, after The China Daily, citing an unidentified official at the National Development and Reform Commission, reported that the government would roll out more policies to improve investor appetite...
Domestic Chinese politics put (some) pressure on Beijing to resume tariff talks–bounce to come?
Still lots of earnings announcements this week but we’re done with the real exciting news from the likes of Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (FB) and Netflix (NFLX). This week the top names are companies like Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), The Walt Disney Company...
The two minor–but very important–flaws in Apple’s great quarter
If Apple (AAPL) hadn’t climbed to become the first $1 trillion company by market cap, these flaws probably wouldn’t be worth talking about. But when investors and traders have driven a stock’s valuation up to these levels–in clear anticipation...
Don’t make too much of the headline miss on jobs–U.S. economy adds average of 224,000 jobs in past three months
This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in July. That was significantly below the 190,000 economists surveyed by Briefing.com had predicted. But before you panic, please note that the government’s...
Is 10-year yield above 3% finally here to stay? U.S. Treasury raises targets for debt sales in second half of 2018
Yesterday the Treasury Department said that it will raise long-term debt issuance to $78 billion this quarter. That would be an increase from the $73 billion in sales last quarter and the third consecutive quarterly increase. The increased sales of Treasury debt are...
Negotiating ploy or serious plan: Trump administration signals go ahead with tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods
On Wednesday President Donald Trump ordered the administration’s trade office to consider imposing a 25% tariff on $200 billion in Chinese goods imported into the United States. The previous tariff proposal from the White House would have imposed a 10% tariff....
So much for the oil rally–crude falls on supply AND demand worries
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate closed down 1.35% today (to $67.83 a barrel) and international benchmark Brent crude tumbled 2.32% to $72.49 on bad news from the supply side and worries about the demand side. On the supply side a report from the U.S Energy...
Fed statement today cements September interest rate increase
Today Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate at 1.75% to 2.00% and described the U.S. economy in terms that make an interest rate increase at the central bank’s September 26 meeting a virtual certainty (absent some startling news event). The CME...
Tech stock selling leads way down today; market looks for new leadership
The U.S. stock market has picked up where it left off last week. Investors and traders are selling technology. Today as of 2:30 p.m. New York the big disappointers from last week are down heavily. Twitter (TWTR) is lower by 7.63%, Netflix (NFLX) is down 4.91%, and...
This market’s volatility puzzle–it’s as if investors and traders don’t think risk is climbing in the general market
Facebook (FB) falls almost 20%. Netflix (NFLX) tumbles 14%. Twitter (TWTR) is down 21% on earnings. Intel (INTC) finished today down 9%. And yet the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which measures the price that traders are willing to pay to hedge risk VIX, the so-called...
4.1% GDP growth isn’t enough to make stock market happy
U.S. GDP (in real terms) grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.1% in the second quarter. The economy hasn’t seen 4% growth in the memory of most Wall Street analysts (who do, I admit, have short memories), but it still wasn’t enough. Economists...
Amazon to the earnings rescue after Facebook plunge
A day after Facebook (FB) told Wall Street analysts to expect slower growth for the rest of 2018 (and saw its stock plunge 18.96%) Amazon (AMZN) beat Wall Street earnings projections by a massive $2.58 a share, reporting earnings for the second quarter of $5.07 versus...
Facebook closes down 18.96% on the day
Golly gee, what could be the big story in the U.S. markets today? How about the rout in Facebook (FB) shares–down 18.96% or $41.24 to $176 at the close. That $112 billion dollar drop in the market value of Facebook gives the company the record for the largest...
Adding AT&T (and its 6.5% yield) to my Dividend Portfolio
Today’s 4.51% drop in shares of AT&T (T) on a relatively mild revenue disappointment announced after the market close yesterday has considerably de-risked the stock. At the current 3:30 p.m. New York price of $30.25 the stock pays a dividend yield of 6.61%....
It’s earnings disappointment day for U.S. industrials
Or, more precisely, it was guidance disappointment day as big U.S. industrials such as General Motors (GM), Pentair (PNR), and Boeing (BA) reported earnings and then issued guidance for the rest of 2018. Earnings for the quarter were, generally, fine. General Motors,...
Is a dip in home sales a “canary in a coal mine” for economy?
Existing home sales fell 0.6% month-over-month in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million. The consensus among economists surveyed by Briefing.com called for an annual rate of 5.45 million units. The May sales rate was revised down to a 5.41 million...
PayPal marks eventful week ahead of Wednesday earnings
Shares of PayPal Holdings have soared ahead of Wednesday, July 25, earnings–and the move is actually on some news. Today, for example, peer to peer payment competitor Snapcash announced that it would shut down. That’s one less competitor in a brutally...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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