Dow rose 70, advancers ahead of decliners 5-2 & NAZ went up 26. Bank stocks continue on their winning ways as the Financial Index shot up another 2+ to the 211s, not seen in more than a year. The MLP index jumped 4 to 384 in a very weak month & the REIT index was up 1+ to the 264s (still sideways for much of the year). Junk bond funds were higher & Treasuries pulled back with the yield on the 10 yer Treasury at a 7 week high. Oil is higher but gold pulled back in the last hour.
The EU said Spain should rein in the growth of costs related to its aging population, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Rajoy who has sought to protect pensioners from austerity measures. Public pension spending will exceed the European average until 2060, even after an overhaul approved by the previous gov, according to the EU. Assuming no policy changes, Spain’s debt burden would rise to 114% of GDP in 2020 & 129% in 2030, from 97% in 2014 & 36% in 2007. “In Spain, the risk of fiscal stress has been reduced thanks to the consolidation measures adopted in the past one or two years, but it still remains rather elevated,” EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said. “It is essential that Spain will effectively implement the budget for 2013 that includes a substantial amount of fiscal consolidation.” According to today’s report, which covers the 24 EU nations not in full bailout programs, short-term “risks for fiscal stress have abated in nearly all countries” since a previous sustainability report in 2009. While the 2009 report indicated that almost 2/3 of EU nations had “elevated risks of fiscal stress for 2010.” Only Spain & Cyprus “appear to be still at risk” in the short term. For Spain, “further containing age-related expenditure growth appears necessary to contribute to the sustainability of public finances in the long term,” the EU said.
EU Urges Spain to Rein in Pension Costs to Protect Budget
Confidence among US homebuilders inched upward this month to the highest level in more than 6½ years as builders reported the best market for newly built homes since the housing boom. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo (NAHB) builder sentiment index increased to 47, up 2 points from a revised 45 in Nov, the highest reading since Apr 2006 (just before the housing bubble burst). The latest index reflects growing optimism that a turnaround in housing will endure after years of stagnation. "While there is still much room for improvement, the consistent upward trend in builder confidence over the past year is indicative of the gradual recovery that has been taking place in housing markets nationwide and that we expect to continue in 2013," said David Crowe, the NAHB's chief economist. A component of the latest builder confidence survey that measures current sales conditions rose 2 points to 51, the highest level since 2006 & a gauge of traffic by prospective buyers increased 1 point to 36, also the highest reading since 2006. However, the index tracking builders' outlook for sales over the next 6 months slipped 1 point to 51, back to where it was 2 months ago. The housing industry is mending.
Homebuilder Confidence Rises to Highest Level Since 2006
Even as retailers debate the efficacy of social-media marketing on Facebook & Twitter, they have no doubts about the power of a decades-old technology to drive sales. The killer app is called e-mail. Measured by sales per dollar spent, e-mail outperforms social-media advertising 3-1, according to the Direct Marketing Association. That explains why retailers will send 19% more e-mails this year. Competition is fierce this holiday season as the National Retail Federation predicts sales will rise 4.1% to $586B, compared with a 5.6% increase in 2011. Online sales may grow to a record $43.4B in the last 2 months of the year, a 17% increase from last year, according to ComScore. At the same time, the number of Black Friday & Cyber Monday shoppers making purchases after clicking through from social networks declined by at least 26% this year from 2011, even as online sales soared, IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark said last month. Social sales contributed less than 0.5% of online revenue both days. Major retailers are on track to send subscribers an average of 211 promotional e-mails in 2012 compared with 177 last year. The boom in smartphones means consumers check e-mail more often, at a time when data & web tracking are becoming more mainstream& easier to use.
Stores Seeking Shoppers Find E-Mail Outdraws Facebook: Retail
Now that Xmas is closing in, the politicos are getting serious about doing something on the budget mess. Whatever they decide, they will spin it as a "brilliant" solution to complex problems. Throwing around $B is easy. Duh!!! Be real. They will just slap together a lot of political goodies. Serious problems are not being addressed as they should be. Another credit downgrade of the debt, which may not be far away, could be the slap in the face which wakes them up. Meanwhile, Dow is crawling to its yearly highs, just about 300 away.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.035% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.258% | |
U.S. 10-year |
1.775% |
| CLF13.NYM | ...Crude Oil Jan 13 | ...87.69 | ...... 0.49 | (0.6%) |
| GCZ12.CMX | ...Gold Dec 12 | ....1,725.70 | ... 28.70 | (1.7%) |
The EU said Spain should rein in the growth of costs related to its aging population, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Rajoy who has sought to protect pensioners from austerity measures. Public pension spending will exceed the European average until 2060, even after an overhaul approved by the previous gov, according to the EU. Assuming no policy changes, Spain’s debt burden would rise to 114% of GDP in 2020 & 129% in 2030, from 97% in 2014 & 36% in 2007. “In Spain, the risk of fiscal stress has been reduced thanks to the consolidation measures adopted in the past one or two years, but it still remains rather elevated,” EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said. “It is essential that Spain will effectively implement the budget for 2013 that includes a substantial amount of fiscal consolidation.” According to today’s report, which covers the 24 EU nations not in full bailout programs, short-term “risks for fiscal stress have abated in nearly all countries” since a previous sustainability report in 2009. While the 2009 report indicated that almost 2/3 of EU nations had “elevated risks of fiscal stress for 2010.” Only Spain & Cyprus “appear to be still at risk” in the short term. For Spain, “further containing age-related expenditure growth appears necessary to contribute to the sustainability of public finances in the long term,” the EU said.
EU Urges Spain to Rein in Pension Costs to Protect Budget
Confidence among US homebuilders inched upward this month to the highest level in more than 6½ years as builders reported the best market for newly built homes since the housing boom. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo (NAHB) builder sentiment index increased to 47, up 2 points from a revised 45 in Nov, the highest reading since Apr 2006 (just before the housing bubble burst). The latest index reflects growing optimism that a turnaround in housing will endure after years of stagnation. "While there is still much room for improvement, the consistent upward trend in builder confidence over the past year is indicative of the gradual recovery that has been taking place in housing markets nationwide and that we expect to continue in 2013," said David Crowe, the NAHB's chief economist. A component of the latest builder confidence survey that measures current sales conditions rose 2 points to 51, the highest level since 2006 & a gauge of traffic by prospective buyers increased 1 point to 36, also the highest reading since 2006. However, the index tracking builders' outlook for sales over the next 6 months slipped 1 point to 51, back to where it was 2 months ago. The housing industry is mending.
Homebuilder Confidence Rises to Highest Level Since 2006
Even as retailers debate the efficacy of social-media marketing on Facebook & Twitter, they have no doubts about the power of a decades-old technology to drive sales. The killer app is called e-mail. Measured by sales per dollar spent, e-mail outperforms social-media advertising 3-1, according to the Direct Marketing Association. That explains why retailers will send 19% more e-mails this year. Competition is fierce this holiday season as the National Retail Federation predicts sales will rise 4.1% to $586B, compared with a 5.6% increase in 2011. Online sales may grow to a record $43.4B in the last 2 months of the year, a 17% increase from last year, according to ComScore. At the same time, the number of Black Friday & Cyber Monday shoppers making purchases after clicking through from social networks declined by at least 26% this year from 2011, even as online sales soared, IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark said last month. Social sales contributed less than 0.5% of online revenue both days. Major retailers are on track to send subscribers an average of 211 promotional e-mails in 2012 compared with 177 last year. The boom in smartphones means consumers check e-mail more often, at a time when data & web tracking are becoming more mainstream& easier to use.
Stores Seeking Shoppers Find E-Mail Outdraws Facebook: Retail
Now that Xmas is closing in, the politicos are getting serious about doing something on the budget mess. Whatever they decide, they will spin it as a "brilliant" solution to complex problems. Throwing around $B is easy. Duh!!! Be real. They will just slap together a lot of political goodies. Serious problems are not being addressed as they should be. Another credit downgrade of the debt, which may not be far away, could be the slap in the face which wakes them up. Meanwhile, Dow is crawling to its yearly highs, just about 300 away.
Dow Jones Industrials
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