Dow rose 157 closing at its high, advancers ahead of decliners better than 3-1 & NAZ gained 48. The MLP index jumped 7+ to the 452s & the REIT index was up 4+ to the 297s. Junk bond funds edged higher & Treasuries pulled back a little. Oil was a little weak & gold had a limited rebound after yesterday's enormous drop.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
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Johnson & Johnson's, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, Q1 profit fell 10% as increased sales were offset by higher costs for production, marketing & administration, plus charges for litigation & other items. The company said & emphasized that revenue for a wide range of products is being hurt by "pricing pressures" from insurers & gov health programs. But the diversified maker of health care products said it continues to make progress fixing manufacturing problems that have caused about 3 dozen product recalls since 2009 & kept Tylenol, Motrin & other popular consumer health brands out of stores. More of those brands are returning or soon will be. EPS was $1.22, down from $1.41 a year earlier. Excluding litigation & acquisition-related charges totaling $610M, EPS would have been $1.44 per share, beating the forecast by 4¢. Q1 included $515M in litigation & acquisition charges plus one for Venezuela devaluing its currency, while last year had a $611M gain mainly from a divestiture. Revenue totaled $17.5, up 8.5% from $16.1B a year earlier & just topped expectations for sales of $17.46. "We're off to a good start in 2013 with solid results," CFO Dominic Caruso said. "We are positioned well to sustain growth in the increasingly dynamic global health care market." He said the Q1 didn't see the modest jump in US health care utilization, more elective surgeries, doctors visits & patients filling prescriptions, that occurred in the prior qtr. It's unclear whether that's the start of a trend due to belt-tightening, or the result of a Q4 blip from people with health savings accounts spending more before the year ended. In the prior qtrs, JNJ had noted utilization was increasing. "As of now, we have $1 billion of costs of U.S. health care reform embedded in our business," Caruso said. The stock rose 1.71.
J&J Earnings Beat Analyst Estimates on Sales of New Medicines and Synthes
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Target, a Dividend Aristocrat, warned Q1 earnings would miss expectations, after weaker-than-expected sales of seasonal & weather-sensitive items. Adjusted EPS would come in slightly below the low end of its prior outlook of $1.10-$1.20, & same-store sales would be about flat. But TGT stood by its full-year forecast for adjusted EPS of $4.85-$5.05 which will be reported in a month. Shares fell 10¢ in a rising market.
Cyprus' attorney general says parliament must vote on the €23B ($30B) bailout deal the country has agreed on with intl creditors. Petros Clerides confirmed that the deal Cyprus reached with its euro partners & the IMF must secure parliamentary approval to become valid. A gov spokesman, Victoras Papadopoulos, said the gov will act according to law. Cypriot lawmakers have already approved many of the austerity measures that were mandated by the creditors - the European Commission, ECB & the IMF. They include cuts to gov salaries, tax increases & an overhaul of the troubled banking sector. The new vote will also cover extra measures that have been agreed upon since then.
Official: Cyprus lawmakers to vote on bailout deal AP
Stocks recovered after their worst decline in 5 months. But the warning from TGT is disturbing because that company feels the pulse of consumer spending which is at the heart of the economy. The GDP report is scheduled to be released Apr 26, a week from Fri. A somber report will not be well received by the stock market. But Dow remains near its record high reach at the end of last week.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.058% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.228% | |
U.S. 10-year |
1.721% |
| CLU13.NYM | ...Crude Oil Sep 13 | ....89.41 |  ...0.05 | (0.1%) |
Photo: Yahoo
Johnson & Johnson's, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, Q1 profit fell 10% as increased sales were offset by higher costs for production, marketing & administration, plus charges for litigation & other items. The company said & emphasized that revenue for a wide range of products is being hurt by "pricing pressures" from insurers & gov health programs. But the diversified maker of health care products said it continues to make progress fixing manufacturing problems that have caused about 3 dozen product recalls since 2009 & kept Tylenol, Motrin & other popular consumer health brands out of stores. More of those brands are returning or soon will be. EPS was $1.22, down from $1.41 a year earlier. Excluding litigation & acquisition-related charges totaling $610M, EPS would have been $1.44 per share, beating the forecast by 4¢. Q1 included $515M in litigation & acquisition charges plus one for Venezuela devaluing its currency, while last year had a $611M gain mainly from a divestiture. Revenue totaled $17.5, up 8.5% from $16.1B a year earlier & just topped expectations for sales of $17.46. "We're off to a good start in 2013 with solid results," CFO Dominic Caruso said. "We are positioned well to sustain growth in the increasingly dynamic global health care market." He said the Q1 didn't see the modest jump in US health care utilization, more elective surgeries, doctors visits & patients filling prescriptions, that occurred in the prior qtr. It's unclear whether that's the start of a trend due to belt-tightening, or the result of a Q4 blip from people with health savings accounts spending more before the year ended. In the prior qtrs, JNJ had noted utilization was increasing. "As of now, we have $1 billion of costs of U.S. health care reform embedded in our business," Caruso said. The stock rose 1.71.
J&J Earnings Beat Analyst Estimates on Sales of New Medicines and Synthes
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Photo: Yahoo
Target, a Dividend Aristocrat, warned Q1 earnings would miss expectations, after weaker-than-expected sales of seasonal & weather-sensitive items. Adjusted EPS would come in slightly below the low end of its prior outlook of $1.10-$1.20, & same-store sales would be about flat. But TGT stood by its full-year forecast for adjusted EPS of $4.85-$5.05 which will be reported in a month. Shares fell 10¢ in a rising market.
Target (TGT)
Cyprus' attorney general says parliament must vote on the €23B ($30B) bailout deal the country has agreed on with intl creditors. Petros Clerides confirmed that the deal Cyprus reached with its euro partners & the IMF must secure parliamentary approval to become valid. A gov spokesman, Victoras Papadopoulos, said the gov will act according to law. Cypriot lawmakers have already approved many of the austerity measures that were mandated by the creditors - the European Commission, ECB & the IMF. They include cuts to gov salaries, tax increases & an overhaul of the troubled banking sector. The new vote will also cover extra measures that have been agreed upon since then.
Official: Cyprus lawmakers to vote on bailout deal AP
Stocks recovered after their worst decline in 5 months. But the warning from TGT is disturbing because that company feels the pulse of consumer spending which is at the heart of the economy. The GDP report is scheduled to be released Apr 26, a week from Fri. A somber report will not be well received by the stock market. But Dow remains near its record high reach at the end of last week.
Dow Jones Industrials
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