Dow added 10, advancers 5-4 ahead of decliners & NAZ was off 2. The Financial Index was up a fraction to just over 216. The MLP & REIT indices were off fractionally. Junk bond funds gained & Treasuries were stronger. Oil fell on speculation that a
gov report will show that US inventories climbed for a 2nd week as demand faltered in the US. Gold marked time.
Photo: Bloomberg
Sales of previously occupied homes in the US jumped in Aug to the highest level in more than 2 years, adding momentum to the housing recovery. Sales rose 7.8% to an annual rate of 4.82M, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's the most since May 2010, when sales were fueled by a federal home-buying tax credit. The figures were reported the same day the gov said US homebuilders broke ground on more new homes in Aug compared to Jul. Still, the recovery is from a depressed level. Sales of previously occupied homes remain below the more than 5.5M that is considered consistent with a healthy market. The number of first-time homebuyers, who are critical to a housing rebound, slipped to 31% from 34%. More Americans appear to be taking advantage of near-record low mortgage rates & prices that are, on average, much lower than they were 6 years ago. Sales might be higher if more homes were available. The limited supply is helping to lift prices. There were 2.47M homes available for sale in Aug. That would take just over 6 months to exhaust that supply at the current sales pace (a typical pace in a healthy market). Good news but housing still needs a lot of help during this recovery.
Housing Starts in U.S. Climbed 2.3% in August
Photo: Yahoo
General Mills reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by recent acquisitions & improving trends in the US market. It stood by its full-year outlook. The company saw benefits from its acquisitions of Food Should Taste Good, Yoplait Ireland, Parampara Foods & Yoplait Intl. GIS expects further benefits in fiscal 2013, starting in the current Q2, from its purchases of Yoplait Canada & Yoki Alimentos in Brazil. CEO Ken Powell said gross margins & volume trends had improved from fiscal Q1. "In our core U.S. market, we are seeing slow improvement in price and volume trends across our retail food categories," Powell said. EPS rose to 82¢, in Q1 from 61¢ a year earlier. Excluding a tax benefit & a gain from the higher valuation of certain commodity positions, EPS was 66¢ -above the 62¢ forecast. But sales fell a little short of estimates, rising 5% to $4.05B, just below $4.08B. Volume increases contributed 9 percentage points of growth, but the value of the sales was reduced by the stronger US dollar & GIS sold more lower-priced items. The company affirmed its full-year outlook, which calls for 2013 EPS of $2.65. The stock was up 57¢.
General Mills Profit Tops Estimates on Sales Abroad
Photo: Bloomberg
The iPhone 5 from Apple drew accolades from technology-gadget critics, who praised the smartphone’s lightweight body design, bigger screen & swifter data-download speeds even as some faulted its mapping tools. It's scheduled to reach stores on Fri. The mostly positive reviews stand to fuel what’s already turning out to be robust demand for this hot product. The company said last week that it received more than 2M orders in 24 hours, more than double the record set when the company introduced the iPhone 4S last year. With a new wireless contract, it costs $199, $299 or $399, depending on the amount of memory. The stock slipped a tad to "only" $701.
Apple IPhone 5 Praised for Speed, Sreen Size; Faulted on Maps by Reviewers
Markets continue to wander, looking for direction. The new iPhone is providing the bulk of the excitement. No news from Europe is a positive, since it has a strong negative bias. While the US economy is doing fairly well, it remains far below robust recovery level in the past. Unrest in the MidEast has quieted down a bit, but that situation continues to be volatile. More churning in the markets can be expected.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.106% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.250% | |
U.S. 10-year |
1.772% |
| CLV12.NYM | ....Crude Oil Oct 12 | ...93.88 | ... 1.41 | (1.5%) |
| GCU12.CMX | ...Gold Sep 12 | ......1,768.00 | ... 0.40 | (0.0%) |
Get the latest daily market update below:
Photo: Bloomberg
Sales of previously occupied homes in the US jumped in Aug to the highest level in more than 2 years, adding momentum to the housing recovery. Sales rose 7.8% to an annual rate of 4.82M, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's the most since May 2010, when sales were fueled by a federal home-buying tax credit. The figures were reported the same day the gov said US homebuilders broke ground on more new homes in Aug compared to Jul. Still, the recovery is from a depressed level. Sales of previously occupied homes remain below the more than 5.5M that is considered consistent with a healthy market. The number of first-time homebuyers, who are critical to a housing rebound, slipped to 31% from 34%. More Americans appear to be taking advantage of near-record low mortgage rates & prices that are, on average, much lower than they were 6 years ago. Sales might be higher if more homes were available. The limited supply is helping to lift prices. There were 2.47M homes available for sale in Aug. That would take just over 6 months to exhaust that supply at the current sales pace (a typical pace in a healthy market). Good news but housing still needs a lot of help during this recovery.
Housing Starts in U.S. Climbed 2.3% in August
General Mills reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by recent acquisitions & improving trends in the US market. It stood by its full-year outlook. The company saw benefits from its acquisitions of Food Should Taste Good, Yoplait Ireland, Parampara Foods & Yoplait Intl. GIS expects further benefits in fiscal 2013, starting in the current Q2, from its purchases of Yoplait Canada & Yoki Alimentos in Brazil. CEO Ken Powell said gross margins & volume trends had improved from fiscal Q1. "In our core U.S. market, we are seeing slow improvement in price and volume trends across our retail food categories," Powell said. EPS rose to 82¢, in Q1 from 61¢ a year earlier. Excluding a tax benefit & a gain from the higher valuation of certain commodity positions, EPS was 66¢ -above the 62¢ forecast. But sales fell a little short of estimates, rising 5% to $4.05B, just below $4.08B. Volume increases contributed 9 percentage points of growth, but the value of the sales was reduced by the stronger US dollar & GIS sold more lower-priced items. The company affirmed its full-year outlook, which calls for 2013 EPS of $2.65. The stock was up 57¢.
General Mills Profit Tops Estimates on Sales Abroad
General Mills (GIS)
The iPhone 5 from Apple drew accolades from technology-gadget critics, who praised the smartphone’s lightweight body design, bigger screen & swifter data-download speeds even as some faulted its mapping tools. It's scheduled to reach stores on Fri. The mostly positive reviews stand to fuel what’s already turning out to be robust demand for this hot product. The company said last week that it received more than 2M orders in 24 hours, more than double the record set when the company introduced the iPhone 4S last year. With a new wireless contract, it costs $199, $299 or $399, depending on the amount of memory. The stock slipped a tad to "only" $701.
Apple IPhone 5 Praised for Speed, Sreen Size; Faulted on Maps by Reviewers
Apple (AAPL)
Markets continue to wander, looking for direction. The new iPhone is providing the bulk of the excitement. No news from Europe is a positive, since it has a strong negative bias. While the US economy is doing fairly well, it remains far below robust recovery level in the past. Unrest in the MidEast has quieted down a bit, but that situation continues to be volatile. More churning in the markets can be expected.
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