Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Stronger natural resource stocks lift markets

Stocks were higher led by mining & oil stocks. Dow rose 67 taking it clearly above 12K, advancers ahead of decliners 5-4 & NAZ was up 14. Bank stocks slipped in trading, when the proposed div by BAC was declined by the FED .

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value	218.52
Change	-0.65 (-0.3%)

There was profit taking in MLPS, the index dropped 1+ to the 373s & the REIT index fell 2½ to the 228s. Junk bond funds were little changed & Treasuries also ended pretty much even on the day. Oil climbed near a 30-month high as another attack was prepared on Libya & protesters clashed with gov forces in Syria, bolstering concern supplies will be disrupted. Gold rose for the 6th straight session, nearing a record, on increasing unrest in the Mideast.

JPMorgan Chase Capital XVI (AMJ)

Treasury yields:

U.S. 3-month		0.08%
U.S. 2-year		0.65%
U.S. 10-year		3.34%

CLK11.NYM

...Crude Oil May 11

...105.69

.....

0.72

(0.7%)

GCH11.CMX

...Gold Mar 11

........1,437.90

...

10.40

(0.7%)

BofA Says Fed Objected to Planned Dividend Increase in 2011

Photo: Bloomberg

The Federal Reserve (FED) has rejected Bank of America's (BAC), a Dow stock, plan to increase the div in H2, an unexpected blow as rivals prepare to increase pay-outs. BAC is still planning to boost the div later in 2011. FED officials said they would base any rejection on 1 of only 3 reasons: the proposed pay-out was too high; the institution failed to show it could weather a sudden economic shock; or it had weaknesses in its planning process.

BofA Says Fed Objected to Planned Dividend Increase in 2011

Photo: Yahoo

General Mills (GIS) net income rose 18% in the fiscal Q3, driven by the sale of more snacks & strength abroad. It has started raising prices for cereals over the past few months to cope with rising ingredient costs & GIS expects price increases will accelerate during fiscal Q4. CEO Ken Powell anticipates the qtr will include the "highest earnings growth of the year." GIS maintained its FY2011 earnings & revenue outlooks. For Q3 (ending Feb 27), GIS had EPS of 59¢, up from 48¢ a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 56¢, matching expectations. Revenue climbed 2% to $3.65B. Revenue for the snack division increased 14%, with Nature Valley & Fiber One snack bars among its strongest performers. The company also saw solid results from its Small Planet Foods natural & organic unit, with revenue up 14% while revenue for the bakeries & foodservice division rose 9%. Intl revenue climbed 8% to $688M, powered by strength in the European & Asia/Pacific regions. GIS said that consumers are seeing a general increase in most food prices due to broad-based inflation. The stock fell 67¢.

General Mills 3Q net income climbs on snack sales- AP

General Mills, Inc. (GIS)

The average price at the pump remains at $3.55
State's Graph

Late day buying pulled stocks solidly into the black. But fundamental problems remain. Portugal is becoming a bigger mess. Libya looks to be a disaster & Syria is the next country in the Mideast to suffer politcal unrest. Economic implications of the Japanese disaster are still trying to be understood. We were reminded earlier that housing in the US market is going nowhere. But US markets feel fairly good, Dow is up 1K in the last 12 months.