Dow inched up 4, advancers ahead of decliners 3-2 & NAZ lost a fraction. The Financial Index rose 1+ to 230, very close to its recent yearly highs. The MLP index rose another 4 to the 413s, inches from its record highs late last year, & the REIT index lost a fraction in the 273s. Junk bond funds did little & Treasuries pulled back with yields near the highest levels since May. Oil & gold are having a good day. Oil traders may trying for a push to $100, not a plus for global economic recovery
Photo: Bloomberg
ECB President Mario Draghi says the struggling eurozone economy has shown signs of stabilizing in recent days but remains short of a turning point & will only return to gradual growth later this year. Draghi spoke after the bank left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75%. A further cut would in theory encourage more economic activity by making it easier for consumers & businesses to borrow, spend & invest. But Draghi said that rates were already low enough to spur growth & would contribute to a gradual rebound. He said some economic indicators "have broadly stabilized," although at low levels, & financial markets have steadied. "Economic activity should gradually recover" later this year, he said & added, "to define a turning point you need a lot of things beside financial market stabilization." For that, the eurozone needs "greater strength in the economy." European leaders are also setting up a new system to have the ECB monitor European banks centrally. The hope is that greater controls will keep banks' financial troubles from requiring national govs to make expensive bailouts that overwhelm public finances. Draghi ticked off a list of improvements that included lower bond market borrowing costs for govs, reflecting increased confidence they can pay their debts; rising stock markets & a flow of deposits back into banks in the most troubled countries. Greece, Ireland, & Portugal have taken bailout loans from other countries & the IMF. Cyprus is currently negotiating one. It is now up to govs to get their economies to grow, Draghi said. The chief risk to the expected recovery is "slow implementation of structural reforms in the euro area."
Photo: Yahoo
The number filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, according to the Labor Dept, but details of the report suggested the jobs market continued to grow at a moderate pace. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 4K to 371K, but the prior week's figure was revised to show 5K fewer applications than previously reported. The 4-week moving average for new claims increased 6K to 365K, still at a level consistent with steady job gains. The number still receiving benefits under regular state programs tumbled 127K to 3.1M, the lowest level since Jul 2008 (prior to the Lehman collapse). The insured unemployment rate fell to 2.4%, its lowest since Jul 2008.
Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Increased Last Week
Tiffany reported its sales grew 4% to $992M for the 2-month period ended Dec 31. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, excluding the effect of translating foreign-currency-denominated sales into US dollars, sales also rose 4% & comparable store sales were unchanged from the prior year. Sales in the Americas region increased 3% to $516M & comparable store sales declined 2% in the NY flagship store & branch stores. Performance was relatively similar across much of the region. But internet & catalog sales rose 4%. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region increased 13% to $187M (due to growth in Greater China & most other markets). Comparable store sales rose 7%. In Japan, total sales of $153M were 5% below the prior year. In Europe, sales increased 2% to $119M. Other sales increased 114% to $17M, largely reflecting the conversion in Jul of 5 TIFFANY stores in the UAE from independently-operated distribution to company-operated stores. CEO Michael J. Kowalski said, “Holiday period sales growth was at the low-end of our expectations, and we now expect that net earnings for the year ending January 31st will be at the lower-end of the forecast that we issued on November 29th of $3.20 - $3.40 per diluted share. Looking forward, we are formulating plans for continued store expansion and new product introductions in 2013. We will provide detailed financial guidance when we report our full year results in March but, due to uncertainty about general economic conditions in all our major markets, management is planning sales growth conservatively for 2013 and at this point expects net earnings growth of 6% - 9%.” The markets were disappointed & the stock fell 2.22.
Markets aren't sure where to go as they wait for earnings reports from the big banks. The € jumped 2 pennies to about $1.32, near its highs since last May. However in the last 4 months, it has stayed close to $1.30 making this difficult to tell if it's more meaningful than a response to encouraging words from Mario. Politicos in DC are relatively quiet on the fiscal debate. Instead they are kicking the can down the road before they come up with a serious solution on raising the debt ceiling. But bulls are happy Dow remains only 300 below its multi year highs.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CLG13.NYM | ...Crude Oil Feb 13 | ...94.12 | ..... 1.02 | (1.1%) |
| GCG13.CMX | ...Gold Feb 13 | .....1,674.10 | ... 18.60 | (1.1%) |
Photo: Bloomberg
ECB President Mario Draghi says the struggling eurozone economy has shown signs of stabilizing in recent days but remains short of a turning point & will only return to gradual growth later this year. Draghi spoke after the bank left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75%. A further cut would in theory encourage more economic activity by making it easier for consumers & businesses to borrow, spend & invest. But Draghi said that rates were already low enough to spur growth & would contribute to a gradual rebound. He said some economic indicators "have broadly stabilized," although at low levels, & financial markets have steadied. "Economic activity should gradually recover" later this year, he said & added, "to define a turning point you need a lot of things beside financial market stabilization." For that, the eurozone needs "greater strength in the economy." European leaders are also setting up a new system to have the ECB monitor European banks centrally. The hope is that greater controls will keep banks' financial troubles from requiring national govs to make expensive bailouts that overwhelm public finances. Draghi ticked off a list of improvements that included lower bond market borrowing costs for govs, reflecting increased confidence they can pay their debts; rising stock markets & a flow of deposits back into banks in the most troubled countries. Greece, Ireland, & Portugal have taken bailout loans from other countries & the IMF. Cyprus is currently negotiating one. It is now up to govs to get their economies to grow, Draghi said. The chief risk to the expected recovery is "slow implementation of structural reforms in the euro area."
Photo: Yahoo
The number filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, according to the Labor Dept, but details of the report suggested the jobs market continued to grow at a moderate pace. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 4K to 371K, but the prior week's figure was revised to show 5K fewer applications than previously reported. The 4-week moving average for new claims increased 6K to 365K, still at a level consistent with steady job gains. The number still receiving benefits under regular state programs tumbled 127K to 3.1M, the lowest level since Jul 2008 (prior to the Lehman collapse). The insured unemployment rate fell to 2.4%, its lowest since Jul 2008.
Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Increased Last Week
Tiffany reported its sales grew 4% to $992M for the 2-month period ended Dec 31. On a constant-exchange-rate basis, excluding the effect of translating foreign-currency-denominated sales into US dollars, sales also rose 4% & comparable store sales were unchanged from the prior year. Sales in the Americas region increased 3% to $516M & comparable store sales declined 2% in the NY flagship store & branch stores. Performance was relatively similar across much of the region. But internet & catalog sales rose 4%. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region increased 13% to $187M (due to growth in Greater China & most other markets). Comparable store sales rose 7%. In Japan, total sales of $153M were 5% below the prior year. In Europe, sales increased 2% to $119M. Other sales increased 114% to $17M, largely reflecting the conversion in Jul of 5 TIFFANY stores in the UAE from independently-operated distribution to company-operated stores. CEO Michael J. Kowalski said, “Holiday period sales growth was at the low-end of our expectations, and we now expect that net earnings for the year ending January 31st will be at the lower-end of the forecast that we issued on November 29th of $3.20 - $3.40 per diluted share. Looking forward, we are formulating plans for continued store expansion and new product introductions in 2013. We will provide detailed financial guidance when we report our full year results in March but, due to uncertainty about general economic conditions in all our major markets, management is planning sales growth conservatively for 2013 and at this point expects net earnings growth of 6% - 9%.” The markets were disappointed & the stock fell 2.22.
Tiffany (TIF)
Markets aren't sure where to go as they wait for earnings reports from the big banks. The € jumped 2 pennies to about $1.32, near its highs since last May. However in the last 4 months, it has stayed close to $1.30 making this difficult to tell if it's more meaningful than a response to encouraging words from Mario. Politicos in DC are relatively quiet on the fiscal debate. Instead they are kicking the can down the road before they come up with a serious solution on raising the debt ceiling. But bulls are happy Dow remains only 300 below its multi year highs.
Dow Jones Industrials
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