Dow slid 1, advancers barely ahead of decliners & NAZ was up 2. But the Financial Index was strong, gaining 1.70 to almost 199 (flirting with its interim highs).
The MLP & REIT indices were each down fractionally & junk bond funds also pulled back. Treasuries rose, pushing 10-year note yields to the lowest level in more than a week, after the G-20 rebuffed German-led calls for financial support to contain Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. Oil fell, halting its longest rally in 2 years, after a warning from the IMF on the global economy sparked concern that prices have climbed too fast. Gold lost ground in profit taking.
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Bloomberg
Chancellor Merkel won a parliamentary vote on Greek aid after warning German lawmakers that pushing Greece out of the euro would risk “incalculable” damage, defying a public backlash against more bailout funds. Parliament voted in favor of the €130B ($174B) package. While questions on Greece’s remaining in the euro “have their justification,” Merkel warned that a failure of the euro might endanger the EU & the global economy. “I think those risks are incalculable, and therefore indefensible,” Merkel said. As chancellor, “I should and have to take risks, but I cannot embark on adventures. My oath forbids that,” she said. Merkel’s gov pushed thru the measure to stave off a collapse of the Greek economy amid signs of growing resistance & as one Cabinet minister said Greece should leave the single currency. Howevert 17 lawmakers within Merkel’s coalition opposed it, another 3 abstained & 6 didn’t vote. That left the gov with a majority of 304 votes of the 591 cast, though short of an absolute majority in the lower chamber. Thus Merkel failed to achieve a “chancellor’s majority,” a politically sensitive bar measuring support among her allies. Euro leaders will now shift their focus on whether to bolster the region’s bailout firewall as they prepare for a summit meeting on Mar 1-2. The bailout is far from over.
Merkel Wins Greek Aid Vote After Warning of ‘Incalculable Damage’ on Delay
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners spent $285M for the remaining 80% it does not possess in a joint venture it operates with the natural gas distributor's parent company, giving it full control. BWP had said it would create the Boardwalk HP Storage Company with its parent Loews (L), gaining total ownership of the storage company was a key goal for 2012. The MLP operates 7 salt-dome natural gas storage caverns in Forrest County, Miss & the storage units have about 29B cubic feet of total storage capacity. It also owns undeveloped land that is suitable for additional storage caverns. The company expects to have one new storage facility in service in 2013, at an incremental cost of about $35M. The units fell 3¢ & yields 7.8%.
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners buys joint venture AP
EL Paso, an explorer for oil & natural gas which operates gas pipelines, earned 24¢ in Q4 better than 9¢ in the prior year. Revenue increased 25% to $1.23B. It earned an adjusted 28¢, when excluding special gains & losses. Natural gas production increased 7½% & oil production 53.6% in Q4. For the full year, EPS was 18¢, compared $1 in 2010. Annual revenue rose 5.3% to $4.86B. EP will be acquired by Kinder Morgan (KMP) in a few months to become the largest MLP in the US. EP rose 49¢ to $27.65.
El Paso Corp. 4Q profits more than double AP
Below is the latest glum report from AAA on the price of gas. The price is climbing & climbing fast. You know this is serious when all the politicos are talking about their fixes.
After selling off at the opening, markets rose to break even & remained in the black for the balance of the day. But this was hardly a convincing gain even though the S&P 500 eked out a new high since mid 2008. Traders are trying to assess the muddled European debt mess which has sort of been approved, but not quite fully signed off. There are no measurements about the effects of rising gas prices, because the worst of the price hiikes has come suddenly. But this will have a major negative effect on the economy as consumers will have to figure what spending needs to be reduced. There is a new report about raising the debt ceiling last year. It may need another adjustment upwards later this year (during the election). I see dark clouds heading for the stock markets. Dow slipped a smidgen, short of 13K once again. Bulls say that shows strength in the face of bad news. I expect sluggish markets to be followed by more selling.
The MLP & REIT indices were each down fractionally & junk bond funds also pulled back. Treasuries rose, pushing 10-year note yields to the lowest level in more than a week, after the G-20 rebuffed German-led calls for financial support to contain Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. Oil fell, halting its longest rally in 2 years, after a warning from the IMF on the global economy sparked concern that prices have climbed too fast. Gold lost ground in profit taking.
JPMorgan Chase Capital XVI (AMJ)
Treasury yelds:
U.S. 3-month | 0.102% | |
U.S. 2-year | 0.285% | |
U.S. 10-year | 1.919% |
| CLJ12.NYM | ...Crude Oil Apr 12 | .....108.50 | ... 1.27 | (1.2%) |
Chancellor Merkel won a parliamentary vote on Greek aid after warning German lawmakers that pushing Greece out of the euro would risk “incalculable” damage, defying a public backlash against more bailout funds. Parliament voted in favor of the €130B ($174B) package. While questions on Greece’s remaining in the euro “have their justification,” Merkel warned that a failure of the euro might endanger the EU & the global economy. “I think those risks are incalculable, and therefore indefensible,” Merkel said. As chancellor, “I should and have to take risks, but I cannot embark on adventures. My oath forbids that,” she said. Merkel’s gov pushed thru the measure to stave off a collapse of the Greek economy amid signs of growing resistance & as one Cabinet minister said Greece should leave the single currency. Howevert 17 lawmakers within Merkel’s coalition opposed it, another 3 abstained & 6 didn’t vote. That left the gov with a majority of 304 votes of the 591 cast, though short of an absolute majority in the lower chamber. Thus Merkel failed to achieve a “chancellor’s majority,” a politically sensitive bar measuring support among her allies. Euro leaders will now shift their focus on whether to bolster the region’s bailout firewall as they prepare for a summit meeting on Mar 1-2. The bailout is far from over.
Merkel Wins Greek Aid Vote After Warning of ‘Incalculable Damage’ on Delay
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners spent $285M for the remaining 80% it does not possess in a joint venture it operates with the natural gas distributor's parent company, giving it full control. BWP had said it would create the Boardwalk HP Storage Company with its parent Loews (L), gaining total ownership of the storage company was a key goal for 2012. The MLP operates 7 salt-dome natural gas storage caverns in Forrest County, Miss & the storage units have about 29B cubic feet of total storage capacity. It also owns undeveloped land that is suitable for additional storage caverns. The company expects to have one new storage facility in service in 2013, at an incremental cost of about $35M. The units fell 3¢ & yields 7.8%.
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners buys joint venture AP
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners L.P. (BWP)
EL Paso, an explorer for oil & natural gas which operates gas pipelines, earned 24¢ in Q4 better than 9¢ in the prior year. Revenue increased 25% to $1.23B. It earned an adjusted 28¢, when excluding special gains & losses. Natural gas production increased 7½% & oil production 53.6% in Q4. For the full year, EPS was 18¢, compared $1 in 2010. Annual revenue rose 5.3% to $4.86B. EP will be acquired by Kinder Morgan (KMP) in a few months to become the largest MLP in the US. EP rose 49¢ to $27.65.
El Paso Corp. 4Q profits more than double AP
El Paso Corporation (EP)
Below is the latest glum report from AAA on the price of gas. The price is climbing & climbing fast. You know this is serious when all the politicos are talking about their fixes.
| Regular | Mid | Premium | Diesel | 85 | **E85 MPG/BTU adjusted price | |
| Current Avg. | $3.698 | $3.843 | $3.974 | $4.030 | $3.166 | $4.166 |
| Yesterday Avg. | $3.688 | $3.829 | $3.962 | $4.019 | $3.161 | $4.160 |
| Week Ago Avg. | $3.565 | $3.700 | $3.834 | $3.952 | $3.123 | $4.109 |
| Month Ago Avg. | $3.406 | $3.533 | $3.671 | $3.864 | $3.050 | $4.014 |
| Year Ago Avg. | $3.354 | $3.460 | $3.595 | $3.699 | $2.824 | $3.7 |
After selling off at the opening, markets rose to break even & remained in the black for the balance of the day. But this was hardly a convincing gain even though the S&P 500 eked out a new high since mid 2008. Traders are trying to assess the muddled European debt mess which has sort of been approved, but not quite fully signed off. There are no measurements about the effects of rising gas prices, because the worst of the price hiikes has come suddenly. But this will have a major negative effect on the economy as consumers will have to figure what spending needs to be reduced. There is a new report about raising the debt ceiling last year. It may need another adjustment upwards later this year (during the election). I see dark clouds heading for the stock markets. Dow slipped a smidgen, short of 13K once again. Bulls say that shows strength in the face of bad news. I expect sluggish markets to be followed by more selling.
No comments:
Post a Comment