Dow gained 43, advancers ahead of decliners 3-2 & NAZ inched up 1, hurt by Apple (AAPL) dropping almost 15.. The Financial Index shot up another 3 to 230, a new yearly high. The MLP index shot ahead another 3 to 405s, concluding its best week in history, & the REIT index was up 1 to the 272s, close to its yearly highs. Junk bond funds gained & Treasuries lost ground with rising stock prices. Oil rose capping the
biggest weekly advance in 3 months, after US employers
hired more workers than expected in Dec. Gold traders expect prices to rebound
from the biggest weekly losing streak in 8 years as mounting
concern that US lawmakers are doing too little to control the budget deficit spurs demand for a protection of wealth.
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Bloomberg
A gauge of US service firms' activity expanded in Dec by the most in nearly a year, driven by a jump in new orders & hiring. The Institute for Supply Management index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 56.1 in Dec from 54.7 in Nov, the highest level since Feb & above the 12-month average of 54.7 (a reading above 50 indicates expansion). A measure of new orders rose to the highest level since Feb, suggesting that consumers & companies kept spending even as the country moved closer to the fiscal cliff. An index of employment rose strongly. That conflicted with a Labor Dept report today that said the economy added just 109K service jobs last month, the fewest since Jun. One key difference between the 2 is the gov doesn't include construction in service jobs. That would have boosted the Dec total by 30K. The ISM report measures service growth in industries that cover 90% of the work force, including retail, construction, health care & financial services. The trade group of purchasing managers conducts surveys of business activity & other research.
Services in U.S. Expand at the Fastest Pace in 10 Months
Exxon Mobil, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, said that a field it's developing off the east coast of Canada is expected to produce more than 700M barrels of oil. The Hebron project, projected to cost $14B, will start production in late 2017 & daily production of is expected to be 150K barrels of oil. XOM has 3 partners including Chevron, another Dow stock. Plans for the project come in the midst of an energy boom in the region. XOM has predicted that North America will become a net exporter of oil & natural gas by the middle of the next decade. The company said that development of the Hebron oil field, which received regulatory approvals in May, could create 3500 jobs. The stock was up 38¢.
Exxon to Spend $14 Billion on Hebron Field Off Canada’s C
Microsoft (another Dow stock) Windows notebook sales declined during the year-end holiday season as consumers shunned traditional computers & flocked instead to other types of electronics, according to NPD Group. Windows notebook holiday unit sales fell 11% & sales of Windows notebooks that cost less than $500 fell 16%. The introduction of the new Windows 8 software failed to stoke much demand for notebooks boasting its flagship operating system. The figures released today exclude tablets, such as MSFT Surface & the iPad from Apple (AAPL). “Despite the hype, and hope, around the launch of Windows 8, the new operating system did little to boost holiday sales or improve the year-long Windows notebook sales decline,” NPD said. MacBook sales also declined (6%) during the period, according to NPD. The stock fell 51¢.
Microsoft Windows 8 Fails to Propel Holiday Demand for Notebooks, NPD Says
Higher markets today were not convincing. The jobs report was not spectacular & unemployment remains stuck at unsatisfactory levels. MLPs had an extraordinary rally on a sigh of relief about their special tax status. This is nearly the conclusion of the first week of trading in the new year. The old adage goes, if the first week is up, that's a good sign for Jan, And if Jan is up, that implies the year will see an advance. Dow gained 500 this week (including Mon). It has more than doubled from its lows in early 2009, with only minor disruptions along the way.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CLG13.NYM | ...Crude Oil Feb 13 | ...92.84 | ... 0.08 (0.1%) |
Photo: Bloomberg
A gauge of US service firms' activity expanded in Dec by the most in nearly a year, driven by a jump in new orders & hiring. The Institute for Supply Management index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 56.1 in Dec from 54.7 in Nov, the highest level since Feb & above the 12-month average of 54.7 (a reading above 50 indicates expansion). A measure of new orders rose to the highest level since Feb, suggesting that consumers & companies kept spending even as the country moved closer to the fiscal cliff. An index of employment rose strongly. That conflicted with a Labor Dept report today that said the economy added just 109K service jobs last month, the fewest since Jun. One key difference between the 2 is the gov doesn't include construction in service jobs. That would have boosted the Dec total by 30K. The ISM report measures service growth in industries that cover 90% of the work force, including retail, construction, health care & financial services. The trade group of purchasing managers conducts surveys of business activity & other research.
Services in U.S. Expand at the Fastest Pace in 10 Months
Exxon Mobil, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, said that a field it's developing off the east coast of Canada is expected to produce more than 700M barrels of oil. The Hebron project, projected to cost $14B, will start production in late 2017 & daily production of is expected to be 150K barrels of oil. XOM has 3 partners including Chevron, another Dow stock. Plans for the project come in the midst of an energy boom in the region. XOM has predicted that North America will become a net exporter of oil & natural gas by the middle of the next decade. The company said that development of the Hebron oil field, which received regulatory approvals in May, could create 3500 jobs. The stock was up 38¢.
Exxon to Spend $14 Billion on Hebron Field Off Canada’s C
Exxon Mobil (XOM)
Microsoft (another Dow stock) Windows notebook sales declined during the year-end holiday season as consumers shunned traditional computers & flocked instead to other types of electronics, according to NPD Group. Windows notebook holiday unit sales fell 11% & sales of Windows notebooks that cost less than $500 fell 16%. The introduction of the new Windows 8 software failed to stoke much demand for notebooks boasting its flagship operating system. The figures released today exclude tablets, such as MSFT Surface & the iPad from Apple (AAPL). “Despite the hype, and hope, around the launch of Windows 8, the new operating system did little to boost holiday sales or improve the year-long Windows notebook sales decline,” NPD said. MacBook sales also declined (6%) during the period, according to NPD. The stock fell 51¢.
Microsoft Windows 8 Fails to Propel Holiday Demand for Notebooks, NPD Says
Microsoft (MSFT)
Higher markets today were not convincing. The jobs report was not spectacular & unemployment remains stuck at unsatisfactory levels. MLPs had an extraordinary rally on a sigh of relief about their special tax status. This is nearly the conclusion of the first week of trading in the new year. The old adage goes, if the first week is up, that's a good sign for Jan, And if Jan is up, that implies the year will see an advance. Dow gained 500 this week (including Mon). It has more than doubled from its lows in early 2009, with only minor disruptions along the way.
Dow Jones Industrials
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