Dow fell 22, decliners barely ahead of advancers & NAZ was down 13. Bank stocks also had a restful day.
MLPs took a breather after yesterday's record run & the REIT index was up 1+ to the 246s. Junk bond funds inched higher & Treasuries had a good day. Oil rose on hopes that low interest rates will drive more demand for oil. Gold shot up 22, a 6 week high.
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Bloomberg
Durable goods orders climbed more than forecast in Dec, pointing to a rebound in business investment that could help support the US economy in early 2012. Bookings for long-lasting goods advanced 3% after rising 4.3% in Nov, the biggest back-to-back gains in almost a year, according to the Commerce Dept. Growing demand for raw materials from emerging markets & the need to replenish depleted inventories & update equipment are swelling order backlogs. Combined with fewer layoffs & added confidence, the gains may help shield the US from a slowdown in Europe caused by the region’s debt crisis. Orders climbed 10 % last year after a 15.5% gain in 2010.
Durable Goods Orders in U.S. Climb 3%, Stronger Than Economists Estimated
Photo: Yahoo
3M, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, profit inched up 3% in Q4 as more demand for products for the home, office & automobile offset declining sales of high-tech products. Growth in developing countries, where MMM now derives more than half of its sales, is slowing. But MMM believes rapid growth in China & other emerging nations will resume in H2. MMM is maintaining its current profit forecast for 2012 for EPS of $6.25-$6.50. Analysts are predicting EPS of $6.33. Q4 EPS was $1.35 compared with $1.28 in the prior year. Revenue rose 6% to $7.09B. The stock gained 1.10.
3M posts small profit increase in 4Q AP
Photo: Bloomberg
AT&T, another Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, predicted 2012 earnings that trailed expectations as record demand for smartphones such as the iPhone drive up subsidy costs, projecting “mid-single-digit or better earnings growth” for 2012. Analysts are predicting 11%. ATT reported a Q4 loss of $6.7B because of a pretax charge of about $4B for the failed takeover of T-Mobile & expenses for revaluing benefit plans & other assets. Activations of the iPhone soared to 7.6M in Q4, boosted by the new 4S model & a previous version offered for free with a contract. ATT gained 717K subscribers on monthly contracts, more than the 574K projected. Sales rose 3.6% to $32.5B. The net loss was $1.12 a share, compared with a profit of 18¢ in the prior year. EPS, excluding some items, fell to 42¢, under the 43¢ predicted. Revenue at the wireless business increased 10% to $16.7B, boosted by web browsing &-mailing by smartphone users. Smartphone subsidies helped reduce operating profit to 15.2% of sales from 22.9%. Making money in the phone business is getting tougher. The stock was off 76¢,
AT&T Earnings Forecast Falls Short as IPhone Demand Boosts Subsidy Costs
This was another uneventful day in the markets, but Jan has been a good month. Dow is up 270 this week & over 500 in Jan. Meanwhile, long term Treasuries & gold (traditional safe havens) are also having a good run in Jan. Back to reality, debt relief talks were restarted in Greece. Duhh!! I think we heard that a week ago (or was it a month ago). MLPs took a day off after their rise to new record highs. The index is up 13 in Jan, not bad. New record highs bring correspondingly lower yields, the index yield is below 6%. However, with a low interest rate environment projected to last for years, maybe "only 6%" will be less of a problem.
S&P 500 Financials Sector Index
| Value | 189.62 | |
| Change | -1.72 (-0.9%) |
MLPs took a breather after yesterday's record run & the REIT index was up 1+ to the 246s. Junk bond funds inched higher & Treasuries had a good day. Oil rose on hopes that low interest rates will drive more demand for oil. Gold shot up 22, a 6 week high.
Alerian MLP Index
| Value | 400.74 | |
| Change | -0.83 (-0.2%) |
Click below for the latest market update:
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month | 0.046% | |
U.S. 2-year | 0.211% | |
U.S. 10-year | 1.930% |
| CLH12.NYM | Crude Oil Mar 12 | 99.75 |  0.35 (0.35%) |
Durable goods orders climbed more than forecast in Dec, pointing to a rebound in business investment that could help support the US economy in early 2012. Bookings for long-lasting goods advanced 3% after rising 4.3% in Nov, the biggest back-to-back gains in almost a year, according to the Commerce Dept. Growing demand for raw materials from emerging markets & the need to replenish depleted inventories & update equipment are swelling order backlogs. Combined with fewer layoffs & added confidence, the gains may help shield the US from a slowdown in Europe caused by the region’s debt crisis. Orders climbed 10 % last year after a 15.5% gain in 2010.
Durable Goods Orders in U.S. Climb 3%, Stronger Than Economists Estimated
3M, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, profit inched up 3% in Q4 as more demand for products for the home, office & automobile offset declining sales of high-tech products. Growth in developing countries, where MMM now derives more than half of its sales, is slowing. But MMM believes rapid growth in China & other emerging nations will resume in H2. MMM is maintaining its current profit forecast for 2012 for EPS of $6.25-$6.50. Analysts are predicting EPS of $6.33. Q4 EPS was $1.35 compared with $1.28 in the prior year. Revenue rose 6% to $7.09B. The stock gained 1.10.
3M posts small profit increase in 4Q AP
3M Company (MMM)
AT&T, another Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, predicted 2012 earnings that trailed expectations as record demand for smartphones such as the iPhone drive up subsidy costs, projecting “mid-single-digit or better earnings growth” for 2012. Analysts are predicting 11%. ATT reported a Q4 loss of $6.7B because of a pretax charge of about $4B for the failed takeover of T-Mobile & expenses for revaluing benefit plans & other assets. Activations of the iPhone soared to 7.6M in Q4, boosted by the new 4S model & a previous version offered for free with a contract. ATT gained 717K subscribers on monthly contracts, more than the 574K projected. Sales rose 3.6% to $32.5B. The net loss was $1.12 a share, compared with a profit of 18¢ in the prior year. EPS, excluding some items, fell to 42¢, under the 43¢ predicted. Revenue at the wireless business increased 10% to $16.7B, boosted by web browsing &-mailing by smartphone users. Smartphone subsidies helped reduce operating profit to 15.2% of sales from 22.9%. Making money in the phone business is getting tougher. The stock was off 76¢,
AT&T Earnings Forecast Falls Short as IPhone Demand Boosts Subsidy Costs
AT&T Inc. (T)
This was another uneventful day in the markets, but Jan has been a good month. Dow is up 270 this week & over 500 in Jan. Meanwhile, long term Treasuries & gold (traditional safe havens) are also having a good run in Jan. Back to reality, debt relief talks were restarted in Greece. Duhh!! I think we heard that a week ago (or was it a month ago). MLPs took a day off after their rise to new record highs. The index is up 13 in Jan, not bad. New record highs bring correspondingly lower yields, the index yield is below 6%. However, with a low interest rate environment projected to last for years, maybe "only 6%" will be less of a problem.
Dow Industrials
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