Financial Review

…Nasdaq up for 8. Wholesale prices flatline. Why worry about overshooting inflation targets. Money velocity at near record lows. Fed mops up surplus cash. Markets don’t reinvest for future growth. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-09-2018 DOW – 74 = 25,509 SPX – 4 =2853 NAS + 3 = 7891 RUT + 4 = 1690 10 Y – .04 = 2.93% OIL – 0.23 – 66.71 GOLD – 1.40 = 1213.10   The Nasdaq Composite posted a gain for the eighth consecutive session, logging its best winning streak since October. The Dow and the S&P slipped. The S&P 500 is near record levels but can’t seem to muster steam for a breakout move. Earnings and data look good but earnings season is winding down and it will be tough to top the second quarter results. Global economies probably can’t provide a synchronized lift. Trade wars could blow up fast. But for now, the markets are on cruise control. The VIX, or volatility index is just slightly above 11, which is another way of saying we are in the Dog Days of summer, and most traders are on vacation.   Bloom

….Nasdaq moves higher – other don’t. Tail end of earnings outweighs trade wars. Oil tumbles. Nat gas bridge. Canadians v. Saudis. Home prices spiral higher. Android Pie. Alexa, buy me something. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-08-2018 DOW – 45 = 25,583 SPX – 0.75 = 2857 NAS + 4 = 7888 RUT – 1 = 1686 10 Y un = 2.97% OIL – 2.40 = 66.77 GOLD + 3.00 = 1214.50 The Nasdaq Composite posted its 7th consecutive day of gains; the longest streak since March as Facebook and Amazon close higher. Facebook and Amazon led the index higher, rising 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. Google-parent Alphabet also rose 0.4 percent. But the rest of the market closed down, slightly.   Wall Street has reached the tail end of the latest corporate earnings season. Nearly 90 percent of S&P 500 companies have released their calendar second-quarter results. Of those companies, 76 percent have reported better-than-forecast quarterly profits, according to FactSet.   CVS Health posted better-than-expected earnings, sending it

…Stocks rally to near record highs. Trade wars on back burner for Wall Street. China threatens Apple. Watch tomorrow’s bond auction. JOLTS – jobs all over Consumer borrowing slows. Disney beats. Tesla going private? Wildfires running wild. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-07-2018 DOW + 126 = 25,628 SPX + 8 = 2858 NAS + 23 = 7883 RUT + 3 = 1688 10 Y + .04 = 2.97% OIL + .05 = 69.06 GOLD + 3.30 = 1211.50 The S&P 500 is up for 4 straight sessions and is about 14 points shy of a record high. Obviously, a break out to a new high would be very bullish. Also, don’t be surprised if the old high acts as resistance. The Nasdaq is on a 6-day winning streak. Also, the Nasdaq Composite is about 50 points from its record high. And the Russell 2000 is about 20 points from a record. So, it is safe to say the market is at a make or break level. Second-quarter results so far have been stellar, with S&P 500 companies reporting earnings growth of 24% and sales gains of 9.8%, according to FactSet. Of the 428 companies in th

…Earnings season super strong – individual names a bit volatile. Buffett sits on cash. Facebook wants your financial data. Iran under sanctions again. Gates testifies at Manafort trial. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-06-2018 DOW + 39 = 25,502 SPX + 10 = 2850 NAS + 47 = 7859 RUT + 10 = 1684 10 Y – .02 = 2.94% OIL + .41 = 68.90 GOLD – 6.10 = 1208.20   The 3 major stock indices closed higher, but not at the highs for the day. Investors focused on a strong earnings season with results from Berkshire Hathaway impressing and Facebook lifting Nasdaq after a report it was planning new services. The S&P edged closer to a record hit on Jan. 26, closing within a percentage point of the all-time high for the first time since the current correction began. Of the 413 S&P 500 companies that have reported second-quarter results so far, 79.2 percent have topped earnings estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data. That compares with the 72 percent average for the past four quarters.   Berkshire Hathaway rose 2.3 per

…Economy adds 157,000 jobs in July. Unemployment rate 3.9%. Wages remain stagnant. The skills gap is really the demand gap. Tariffs and the Fed could be stumbling blocks to full employment. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-03-2018 DOW + 136 = 25,462 SPX + 13 = 2840 NAS + 9 = 7812 RUT – 8 = 1673 10 Y – .03 = 2.95% OIL – .38 = 68.58 GOLD + 6.10 = 1214.30   The economy added 157,000 new jobs in July. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% from 4%. Most estimates were calling for 190,000 to 200,000 new jobs, so July numbers missed estimates but May and June were revised higher by 59,000. For the first 6 months of the year, average job growth comes in at 224,000 per month, which is very strong. Over the past 12 month, the economy has added 2.4 million jobs.   In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents to $27.05. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 71 cents, or 2.7 percent. And even those increases have been largely eaten up by rising in

Interview with Anthony Nieves, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. The July NMI registered 55.7%, down from a June reading of 59.1%. The post Anthony Nieves – ISM appeared first on Eat the Bankers.com.

…Apple hits $1 trillion. Trade war backs China into a corner. EPA proposes rolling back fuel efficiency standards. Tesla squeezes shorts. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-02-2018 DOW – 7 = 25,326 SPX + 13 = 1827 NAS + 95 = 7802 RUT + 12 = 1682 10 Y – .02 = 2.99% OIL + .04 = 69.00 GOLD – 8.30 = 1208.20   Stocks started the morning in negative territory; the broader market turned positive, but the Dow Industrials struggled, dropping more than 200 points, then finishing the session down 7. Another big day for Apple, pushed market capitalization above $1 trillion – the first company ever to hit the trillion mark. Apple has seen a very impressive rally over the past couple of days, following a strong earnings report, the company has tacked on $80 billion in market capitalization; that was enough to lift the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq – and it added about 30 points to the Dow today. Apple rose 3% to close at 207.39.   In the more than four decades since Steve Jobs founded the company in a California garage, Appl

…FOMC leaves rates unchanged. Crazy dog threatens 25% tariffs of $200 B of Chinese goods. Populism for billionaires. Apple to a trillion. Tesla produces. Wells Fargo caught again. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-01-2018 DOW – 81 = 25,333 SPX – 2 = 2813 NAS + 35 = 7707 RUT – 1 = 1669 10 Y + .04 = 3.00 OIL + .17 = 67.83 GOLD – 7.90 = 1216.50   The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee wrapped up a 2-day policy meeting and published a statement that they had voted unanimously to keep the target range for its benchmark rate at 1.75 percent to 2 percent. No surprise. However, the committee is widely expected to approve an increase at the September meeting and minor changes to language in the statement seem to point to another rate hike in December. Traders in the fed funds futures market are indicating a 91.4 percent chance of a September increase and a 68.2 percent probability for another move in December, according to the CME’s tracker. They would come on top of previous hikes in March and June

Interview with Timothy Fiore, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. The July PMI registers 58.1%, down from 60.2% in June. The post Timothy Fiore – ISM appeared first on Eat the Bankers.com.

…July was a good month on Wall Street. Apple beats. Facebook does something about bad actors. Home prices up, but construction loses workers. Consumer confidence up. PCE up. Spending up. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-31-2018 DOW + 108 = 25,415 SPX + 13 = 2816 NAS + 41 = 7671 RUT + 17 = 1670 10 Y – .01 = 2.96% OIL – 1.70 = 68.43 GOLD + 2.40 = 1224.40   Today was the last trading day of July, and the major averages posted solid monthly gains. The Dow rose 4.7% and S&P 500 was up 3.6%, their biggest monthly gains since January. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, climbed more than 2% in July and notched its fourth straight monthly gain. About 60 percent of the S&P 500 companies have released quarterly results, with 82 percent of those companies posting better-than-expected earnings. The corporate earnings season continued today with Dow components Procter & Gamble and Pfizer reporting better-than-expected earnings. Shares of Procter were up 0.9 percent, while Pfizer’s stock gained 3.5 percent.   After a few days of

…Stocks slip again. Shutdown? Tariffs? Earnings? Fed? Real estate demand outstrips supply. Earnings season: CAT will raise prices because of tariffs but has plenty for buyback. Yemen turns into an oil problem for Saudis. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-30-2018 DOW – 144 = 25,306 SPX – 16 = 2802 NAS – 107 = 7630 RUT – 10 = 1653 10 Y + .01 = 2.97% OIL + 1.41 = 70.10 GOLD – 2.20 = 1222.00   The selloff seems to be gathering momentum. The Nasdaq Composite is down for 3 straight sessions; down 1% or more in each of those sessions. The Nasdaq has also seen a sharp uptick in the number of stocks striking 52-week lows. Today, 102 Nasdaq-listed stocks fell to their lowest price in a year or more, and only 30 stocks hit new highs. There’s an enormous amount of money in tech stocks and some of that money is rotating out or moving to the sidelines.  The S&P 500 index is sitting at the 2800 level, which had been an important level of resistance – now let’s see if it can provide support. Equities have done well of

…GDP pops to 4.1%. Stocks drop. FAANGS lead lower. Disney buys 21st Century Fox. Twitter purges fake accounts. Exxon stumbles. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-27-2018 DOW – 76 = 25,451 SPX – 18 = 2818 NAS – 114 = 7737 RUT – 32 = 1663 10 Y – .01 = 2.96% OIL – .57 = 69.04 GOLD + .80 = 1224.20   Shares of Microsoft dropped 1.8% and Alphabet fell 2.5%; both companies recently reported strong quarterly results. Alphabet shares touched an all-time high earlier in the session but reversed course. Intel shares sank 8.6 percent after the chipmaker’s data center business missed estimates. The pressure on tech stocks started on Thursday after Facebook gave a dismal forecast that caught investors off guard about growth prospects in a sector that has led the market’s march toward record highs. Twitter posted disappointing quarterly results and the shares dropped 20.5% – that is actually a bigger percentage drop than Facebook suffered this week, but Twitter is nowhere near the size. Twitter reported a decline in mo

Sinclair Noe interviews Etienne Deffarges, author of “Untangling the USA: The Cost of Complexity and What Can Be Done About It” The post Etienne Deffarges – Untangling the USA appeared first on Eat the Bankers.com.

…Facebook’s epic crash. Amazon does Amazon. Facial Rekognition sort of works. Earnings roundup: Intel, Starbucks, Chipotle, airlines. GDP tomorrow. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-26-2018 DOW + 112 = 25,527 SPX – 8 = 2837 NAS – 80 = 7852 RUT + 10 = 1695 10 Y + .04 = 2.97% OIL + .24 = 69.54 GOLD – 9.00 = 1223.40   The bigger they are, the harder they fall.   Facebook posted the largest one-day loss in market value by any company in U.S. stock market history after releasing a disastrous quarterly report. Facebook’s market capitalization crashed by about $120 billion to about $510 billion as its stock price fell by more than 19 percent. At Wednesday’s close, Facebook’s market cap had totaled nearly $630 billion. No company in the history of the U.S. stock market has ever lost $100 billion in market value in just one day. The closest runner-up – Intel lost $90 billion in one day back in 2000. Earlier that year, Microsoft lost $80 billion from its market cap in one day. Today, Facebook shares dropped $41.2

…Stocks rally on hope for trade agreement with EU. Facebook slammed on earnings. Tariffs hit multiple companies 2Q earnings. New home sales drop. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-25-2018 DOW + 172 = 25,414 SPX + 25 = 2864 NAS + 91 = 7932 RUT + 5 = 1685 10 Y – .01 = 2.94% OIL + .16 = 69.46 GOLD + 7.30 = 1232.40   Tech stocks lifted the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Microsoft rose 2.9 percent to a record and Apple up 0.4 percent, just shy of its all-time high. Alphabet moved higher again after a strong earnings report Monday afternoon. The S&P tech index was up 1 percent. Technology stocks are mostly responsible for the broader market erasing nearly all its losses from the early 2018 weakness that dragged U.S. stocks into a correction. A decline of at least 10% from a recent top is typically how market technicians define an asset’s bearish corrective phase. A climb from its closing low of at least 10% is generally viewed as an emergence from out of correction. The S&P 500 is now just a smidge above 10% higher

…Earnings season heats up. Companies affected by trade war. Farmers get $12 billion bailout. It’s hot outside. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-24-2018 DOW + 197 = 25,241 SPX + 13 = 2820 NAS – 1 = 7840 RUT – 18 = 1680 10 Y – .02 = 2.95% OIL + .87 = 68.76 GOLD + .10 = 1225.10     The S&P 500 index rose to its highest since early February, and to within 2 percent of its late-January record. The Nasdaq hit a new record high. Alphabet jumped over 3.8% following a very strong earnings report that beat both top and bottom line estimates. After accounting for record EU antitrust fine, Alphabet earnings beat expectations by more than $2 a share. A big beat for Biogen; earnings were up in the second quarter and sales climbed 9%. That’s in part thanks to strong demand for spinal atrophy treatment Spinraza, one of the world’s most expensive drugs. A single dose costs upwards of $125,000. Biogen says 20% more patients in the US are now using the drug. AT&T added a net 46,000 postpaid mobile phone subscribers in th

…Earnings season strong but may have hit peak earnings. Google shines. Trade wars loom. Iran gets tweet threat. Commodity prices slammed by tariff talk. Existing home sales slip Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-23-2018 DOW – 13 = 25,044 SPX + 5 = 2806 NAS + 21 = 7841 RUT + 1 = 1698 10 Y + .07 = 2.96% OIL – .46 = 67.80 GOLD – 7.50 = 1225.00 For the S&P 500, the 2800 level is turning into a significant level of support; and the Dow has support at the 25,000 level. Today, those levels held. This is the busiest week of earnings reporting season. There are 174 S&P 500 index companies scheduled to report earnings this week. Eleven of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average components are on the docket as well. The earnings reporting season is off to a great start, with 87 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported, posting reporting better-than-expected profits as compared with the same period in 2017. Though it’s still a relatively small sample — 17 percent of the index — the early results are encourag

…Stocks flat. Earnings still strong. Facebook again. Trump threatens max tariffs on China. China responds. Trump hits Fed again – bad idea. Playmate payoff tape. Google works on Fuschia. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-20-2018 DOW – 6 = 25,058 SPX – 2 = 2801 NAS – 5 = 7820 RUT – 4 = 1696 10 Y + .05 = 2.90% OIL + .85 = 70.31 GOLD + 9.20 = 1232.50 For the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower while the Dow rose 0.1 percent to post its first three-week winning streak since January. As the second-quarter reporting period gains momentum, analysts forecast for profit at S&P 500 companies have risen to 22 percent, compared with the 20.7 percent gain seen on July 1, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Of the 87 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 83.9 percent have topped profit expectations, compared with a 75 percent beat rate over the past four quarters.   After the closing bell Thursday, Microsoft posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on the surging strength of

…Earnings continue to pour in hot. Comcast passes on 21st Century Fox. Trade war tensions. Trump influences Fed. Invites Putin to White House. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-19-2018 DOW – 134 = 25,064 SPX – 11 = 2804 NAS – 29 = 7825 RUT + 9 = 1701 10 Y – .03 = 2.84% OIL + .68 = 69.44 GOLD – 4.80 = 1223.30 The Dow snapped a five-session win streak. The earnings season continued at full speed, driving individual stock moves. Nearly 14% of S&P 500 companies have reported thus far this season, according to FactSet, with profits up more than 20% and sales growing about 8.4%.   After the closing bell, Microsoft reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter of its 2018 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. Earnings topped estimates by 5 cents per share. Microsoft grew revenue by 17 percent, also topping estimates. In recent years CEO Satya Nadella has focused investor attention around the Commercial Cloud, a group of products including commercial tiers of the Office 365 productivity software,

…Stocks drift higher. Beige Book shows steady growth and tariff worries. Berkshire buyback. Trump on Russia: they didn’t do it, they did it, they aren’t continuing to do it. Pizza and burgers. EU fines Google. Amazon Prime smash hit. Morgan Stanley beats. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-18-2018 DOW + 79 = 25,199 SPX + 6 = 2815 NAS – 0.67 = 7845 RUT + 4 = 1691 10 Y + .01 = 2.88% OIL + .90 = 68.98 GOLD – .10 = 1228.10 The S&P 500 hit a five-month high. Financials and industrials were leading gains, both by at least 1%, while consumer-staples names led losses. The Dow Industrials closed higher, marking its longest winning period since an eight-day streak ended May 14.   A couple of weeks before a FOMC policy meeting, the Federal Reserve publishes the Beige Book; it isn’t hard economic data, just anecdotal assessments of the economy gathered from the 12 Fed districts. The Fed found that 11 of 12 regions of the country were growing at a “modest” pace or even faster. Only the states around St. Louis reporte