Dow sank 145, decliners over advancers better than 8-1 & NAZ was off 53. The MLP index lost 4 to the 459s & the REIT index was off 3 to below 271. Junk bond funds sold off, but Treasuries climbed. Oil was flat & gold inched higher.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Microsoft, a Dow stock, customers flocked to game consoles & cloud software in Q4, helping it deliver results that topped projections. Revenue climbed 14% to a record $24.5B in the fiscal Q2. Analysts had predicted $23.7B. The company is in the middle of implementing a reorganization & is working to close the acquisition of Nokia Oyj’s handset unit. MSFT introduced the new Xbox One game machine in the holiday qtr & boosted sales of web-based software such as Azure & Office 365, even as its traditional programs continue to languish along with PC shipments, which posted a record drop in 2013. EPS rose to 78¢ from 76¢ a year earlier. Analysts had projected 69¢. Unearned revenue, which comes from sales of multiyear deals that will be recognized in the future, was $19.5B, below the $20.5B analyst projection. Sales of commercial cloud programs like Azure & Office 365 more than doubled from last year & the company sold twice as many Surface tablets as it did in the fiscal Q1, according to CFO Amy Hood. “We exceeded expectations in both the commercial unit and the devices and consumer segment and we saw improvement in areas where frankly we needed to get better,” Hood said, citing Surface & tablets as examples. The PC market is stabilizing, she said, with corp shipments rising for the 3rd consecutive qtr & consumer PCs performing better than anticipated, although she said demand remains soft as customers choose other devices. Revenue in the devices & consumer hardware unit, which includes Xboxes & Surface tablets, climbed 68% to $4.7B, topping the $4.05B estimate. The company is forecasting Q3 division sales of $1.9B-$2B. 7.4M Xbox units were sold to retailers, including 3.9M Xbox One machines. The stock rose 84¢.
If you would like to learn more about MSFT, click here: http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=MSFT&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Microsoft Posts Record Sales as Ballmer Prepares to Exit
Photo: Bloomberg
Procter & Gamble, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, posted fiscal Q2 profit that topped estimates as sales of products such as Pampers diapers rose in emerging markets. EPS fell to $1.18 from $1.39 a year earlier. Excluding some items, EPS was $1.21, exceeding the $1.20 estimate. CEO A.G. Lafley has said developing markets with climbing household incomes will be “significant” drivers of growth. Sales in such countries rose 8%, excluding the effects of acquisitions, divestitures & foreign-currency exchange-rate fluctuations. Those gains have helped PG overcome weakness in the US, where it is trying to recapture market share in key categories such as detergents. PG reiterated its annual forecast for a 5-7% increase in adjusted EPS & a 3-4% organic sales gain. Currency fluctuations reduced EPS by 11¢. Currencies also reduced net sales by 3 percentage points, while the mix of products sold reduced sales 1%. Lafley, who first led the company from 2000-2009, replaced Bob McDonald last year after P&G lost market share in some important categories & trailed competitors in sales growth. The stock shot up 3.05 after a lackluster performance in the last year.
If you would like to learn more about PG, click here: http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=PG&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Photo: Bloomberg
While sovereign borrowing costs in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal & Spain fell this month to a euro-area record & stock indices reached their highest in 6 years, declining bank lending & record unemployment tell a different story as the region struggles out of its longest recession. Policy makers are looking to move beyond the debt crisis that started in Greece in 2009, focusing on shoring up the banking system. Still, the recovery remains fragile. The region’s unemployment rate has held at a record 12.1% since Apr & inflation is less than half of the ECB price-stability target. Euro-area gov debt will average about 96 % of GDP, according to the European Commission. Overall, the euro-area economy contracted 0.4% last year & forecasts cal forl an expansion of 1.1% in 2014. All that has kept a lid on bank lending to companies & households, vital for generating growth. It shrank for the 19th straight month in Nov, according to the ECB. Meanwhile, Stoxx 600’s P/E ratio has climbed to its highest since 2009.
Euro Lending Curbs Keep Lid on Growth as Markets Rally
Stocks continue their slipping & sliding ways in the new year. Dow is down 560 this month in what is shaping up as a tough year for stocks. Maybe they need a breather after a breathtaking rise from the lows 5 years ago. There are no dramatic outside influences & earnings season is merely lumbering along with less than ordinary earnings. Dow will need an unusually good run next week if it is to avoid a down market for Jan. 6 straight years may be too much, even the hardiest bulls.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.04% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.34% | |
U.S. 10-year |
2.74% |
| CLH14.NYM | ...Crude Oil Mar 14 | ...97.34 |  ...0.02 | (0.0%) |
| GCF14.CMX | ...Gold Jan 14 | .......1,266.20 | ....3.60 | (0.3%) |
Microsoft, a Dow stock, customers flocked to game consoles & cloud software in Q4, helping it deliver results that topped projections. Revenue climbed 14% to a record $24.5B in the fiscal Q2. Analysts had predicted $23.7B. The company is in the middle of implementing a reorganization & is working to close the acquisition of Nokia Oyj’s handset unit. MSFT introduced the new Xbox One game machine in the holiday qtr & boosted sales of web-based software such as Azure & Office 365, even as its traditional programs continue to languish along with PC shipments, which posted a record drop in 2013. EPS rose to 78¢ from 76¢ a year earlier. Analysts had projected 69¢. Unearned revenue, which comes from sales of multiyear deals that will be recognized in the future, was $19.5B, below the $20.5B analyst projection. Sales of commercial cloud programs like Azure & Office 365 more than doubled from last year & the company sold twice as many Surface tablets as it did in the fiscal Q1, according to CFO Amy Hood. “We exceeded expectations in both the commercial unit and the devices and consumer segment and we saw improvement in areas where frankly we needed to get better,” Hood said, citing Surface & tablets as examples. The PC market is stabilizing, she said, with corp shipments rising for the 3rd consecutive qtr & consumer PCs performing better than anticipated, although she said demand remains soft as customers choose other devices. Revenue in the devices & consumer hardware unit, which includes Xboxes & Surface tablets, climbed 68% to $4.7B, topping the $4.05B estimate. The company is forecasting Q3 division sales of $1.9B-$2B. 7.4M Xbox units were sold to retailers, including 3.9M Xbox One machines. The stock rose 84¢.
If you would like to learn more about MSFT, click here: http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=MSFT&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Microsoft Posts Record Sales as Ballmer Prepares to Exit
Microsoft (MSFT)
Procter & Gamble, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, posted fiscal Q2 profit that topped estimates as sales of products such as Pampers diapers rose in emerging markets. EPS fell to $1.18 from $1.39 a year earlier. Excluding some items, EPS was $1.21, exceeding the $1.20 estimate. CEO A.G. Lafley has said developing markets with climbing household incomes will be “significant” drivers of growth. Sales in such countries rose 8%, excluding the effects of acquisitions, divestitures & foreign-currency exchange-rate fluctuations. Those gains have helped PG overcome weakness in the US, where it is trying to recapture market share in key categories such as detergents. PG reiterated its annual forecast for a 5-7% increase in adjusted EPS & a 3-4% organic sales gain. Currency fluctuations reduced EPS by 11¢. Currencies also reduced net sales by 3 percentage points, while the mix of products sold reduced sales 1%. Lafley, who first led the company from 2000-2009, replaced Bob McDonald last year after P&G lost market share in some important categories & trailed competitors in sales growth. The stock shot up 3.05 after a lackluster performance in the last year.
If you would like to learn more about PG, click here: http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=PG&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Procter & Gamble (PG)
Photo: Bloomberg
While sovereign borrowing costs in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal & Spain fell this month to a euro-area record & stock indices reached their highest in 6 years, declining bank lending & record unemployment tell a different story as the region struggles out of its longest recession. Policy makers are looking to move beyond the debt crisis that started in Greece in 2009, focusing on shoring up the banking system. Still, the recovery remains fragile. The region’s unemployment rate has held at a record 12.1% since Apr & inflation is less than half of the ECB price-stability target. Euro-area gov debt will average about 96 % of GDP, according to the European Commission. Overall, the euro-area economy contracted 0.4% last year & forecasts cal forl an expansion of 1.1% in 2014. All that has kept a lid on bank lending to companies & households, vital for generating growth. It shrank for the 19th straight month in Nov, according to the ECB. Meanwhile, Stoxx 600’s P/E ratio has climbed to its highest since 2009.
Euro Lending Curbs Keep Lid on Growth as Markets Rally
Stocks continue their slipping & sliding ways in the new year. Dow is down 560 this month in what is shaping up as a tough year for stocks. Maybe they need a breather after a breathtaking rise from the lows 5 years ago. There are no dramatic outside influences & earnings season is merely lumbering along with less than ordinary earnings. Dow will need an unusually good run next week if it is to avoid a down market for Jan. 6 straight years may be too much, even the hardiest bulls.
Dow Jones Industrials
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