Dow rose 39, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ added 25. The MLP index was off a fraction to the 518s & the REIT index went up 1+ to the 306s. Junk bond funds fluctuated & Treasuries were in demand, with yields near the lowest levels in more than a year. Oil slid lower & gold crawled higher.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Photo: Bloomberg
Retail sales were little changed in Jul, the worst performance in 6 months, as car demand slowed & tepid wage growth restrained US consumers. The slowdown in purchases followed a 0.2% advance in Jun, according to the Commerce Dept. The forecast called for a 0.2% gain. Excluding cars, cars, sales rose 0.1%. Job growth has yet to stoke the type of wage gains needed to boost household purchases, a sign the economic expansion will probably not sustain the Q2 pickup into the end of the year. Retailers such are relying on promotions & discounts to entice customers, whose spending accounts for about 70% of the economy. 8 of 13 major categories showed an increase in sales last month, paced by clothing, grocery & personal-care stores. The labor market, while improving, has yet to return to full strength. Employers have added more than 200K jobs in each of the past 6 months, the best performance since 1997. Nonetheless, inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings dropped 0.2% in the 12 months through Jun, the worst performance since Oct 2012. Among retailers, motor vehicle purchases cooled, falling 0.2% from Jun. At the same time, sales of cars & parts were up 6% in Jul from the same month in 2013, with auto dealers benefiting from pent-up demand & easy access to credit. Industry figures show auto sales are on track for their best year since 2006. Core retail sales, which excludes categories such as cars, gas stations & building materials, climbed 0.1% following a 0.5% increase the prior month that was smaller than previously reported. Core sales are used to calculate GDP.
Worst Retail Sales Showing in Six Months in Slow Start to Third Quarter
Macy's missed quarterly earnings estimates & trimmed its annual sales forecast, indicating that the back-to-school & Christmas shopping seasons won’t make up for a sluggish H1. Q2 EPS was 80¢, up from 72¢ a year earlier. Analysts had estimated 86¢. CEO Terry Lundgren has struggled to maintain Macy’s sales growth while a choppy economic recovery hurts consumer spending. Q2 sales at stores open at least a year rose 3.4%, below the 3.9% analysts had projected. The chain has had to rely on discounts & promotional events, such as its Friends & Family sale, to get customers in the door, eroding margins. Macy’s, which operates about 840 stores, cut its full-year forecast for comparable-sales growth to 2-2.5%, down from a previous projection of as much as 3%. Total retail sales were little changed in Jul, the worst performance in 6 months, as tepid wage growth restrained US consumers. Macy’s has been trying to recover from an unexpected sales decline in Q1, when cold weather hurt revenue. In Q2 sales rebounded, growing 3.3% to $6.27B. Still, analysts had predicted $6.3B. The stock sank 2.47. If you would like to learn more about Macy's, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/M?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Macy’s Cuts Sales Forecast as Discounts Fail to Reignite Growth
Deere cut its fiscal-year profit forecast & said it will scale back production as record crops weigh on grain prices & deter spending by US farmers. Net income in the year through Oct 31 will be about $3.1B, DE said, down from a May projection of about $3.3B. The company also said it now sees equipment sales falling about 6%, compared with a May prediction for a 4% decline. “For the balance of the year, the company will be scaling back production in line with demand for our agricultural products,” CEO Samuel R. Allen said. Agricultural-equipment sales will be flat or worse in each of its regional segments, with a decline of about 10% seen in the US & Canada, which together are the company’s largest market. Falling commodity prices are contributing to a reduction in farm income, which in turn is putting pressure on demand for farm equipment, it said. Prices for corn, soybeans & wheat have each dropped more than 10% in the past year on expectations of rising global supplies. Net US farm cash income will fall 22% to $102B in 2014, according to a projection from the Dept of Agriculture. US farmers will harvest a record soy crop this year & the dept also predicted record US production of corn. DE also reported that fiscal Q3 EPS was $2.33, down from $2.56. But that exceeded the $2.20 estimate. Equipment sales fell to $8.72B from $9.32B a year earlier, matching the estimate. The company saw an improvement at its construction & forestry business as sales rose 19%, on higher volume & price increases. The company expects worldwide sales of construction & forestry equipment to climb by about 10% for the full year, reflecting further economic recovery & higher housing starts in the US, as well as sales increases outside the US & Canada. Agricultural machinery sales accounted for 78% of revenue in 2013, while construction & forestry made up 16%. The stock fell 30¢. If you would like to learn more about DE, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/DE?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Deere ‘Scaling Back’ Output as It Cuts Forecast
News was a bit dreary, but buyers were not deterred. Macy's is a major retailer & its drab results can be expected to be repeated by others, starting with Wal-Mart, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, tomorrow. Retailers have not been able to counter the effect of modest growth of household income which restricts sales growth. The intl front remains glum with the bad guys consolidating gains in northern Iraq. Christians & other minorities are in a desperate state as relief efforts are inadequate. That story is extremely important because ISIS has said its goal is to fly its flag over the White House. Meanwhile Obama is busy playing golf.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CLU14.NYM | ...Crude Oil Sep 14 | ...97.47 |  ...0.10 | (0.1%) |
| GCQ14.CMX | ...Gold Aug 14 | .....1,312.50 | ...3.70 | (0.3%) |
Retail sales were little changed in Jul, the worst performance in 6 months, as car demand slowed & tepid wage growth restrained US consumers. The slowdown in purchases followed a 0.2% advance in Jun, according to the Commerce Dept. The forecast called for a 0.2% gain. Excluding cars, cars, sales rose 0.1%. Job growth has yet to stoke the type of wage gains needed to boost household purchases, a sign the economic expansion will probably not sustain the Q2 pickup into the end of the year. Retailers such are relying on promotions & discounts to entice customers, whose spending accounts for about 70% of the economy. 8 of 13 major categories showed an increase in sales last month, paced by clothing, grocery & personal-care stores. The labor market, while improving, has yet to return to full strength. Employers have added more than 200K jobs in each of the past 6 months, the best performance since 1997. Nonetheless, inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings dropped 0.2% in the 12 months through Jun, the worst performance since Oct 2012. Among retailers, motor vehicle purchases cooled, falling 0.2% from Jun. At the same time, sales of cars & parts were up 6% in Jul from the same month in 2013, with auto dealers benefiting from pent-up demand & easy access to credit. Industry figures show auto sales are on track for their best year since 2006. Core retail sales, which excludes categories such as cars, gas stations & building materials, climbed 0.1% following a 0.5% increase the prior month that was smaller than previously reported. Core sales are used to calculate GDP.
Worst Retail Sales Showing in Six Months in Slow Start to Third Quarter
Macy's missed quarterly earnings estimates & trimmed its annual sales forecast, indicating that the back-to-school & Christmas shopping seasons won’t make up for a sluggish H1. Q2 EPS was 80¢, up from 72¢ a year earlier. Analysts had estimated 86¢. CEO Terry Lundgren has struggled to maintain Macy’s sales growth while a choppy economic recovery hurts consumer spending. Q2 sales at stores open at least a year rose 3.4%, below the 3.9% analysts had projected. The chain has had to rely on discounts & promotional events, such as its Friends & Family sale, to get customers in the door, eroding margins. Macy’s, which operates about 840 stores, cut its full-year forecast for comparable-sales growth to 2-2.5%, down from a previous projection of as much as 3%. Total retail sales were little changed in Jul, the worst performance in 6 months, as tepid wage growth restrained US consumers. Macy’s has been trying to recover from an unexpected sales decline in Q1, when cold weather hurt revenue. In Q2 sales rebounded, growing 3.3% to $6.27B. Still, analysts had predicted $6.3B. The stock sank 2.47. If you would like to learn more about Macy's, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/M?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Macy’s Cuts Sales Forecast as Discounts Fail to Reignite Growth
Macy's (M)
Deere cut its fiscal-year profit forecast & said it will scale back production as record crops weigh on grain prices & deter spending by US farmers. Net income in the year through Oct 31 will be about $3.1B, DE said, down from a May projection of about $3.3B. The company also said it now sees equipment sales falling about 6%, compared with a May prediction for a 4% decline. “For the balance of the year, the company will be scaling back production in line with demand for our agricultural products,” CEO Samuel R. Allen said. Agricultural-equipment sales will be flat or worse in each of its regional segments, with a decline of about 10% seen in the US & Canada, which together are the company’s largest market. Falling commodity prices are contributing to a reduction in farm income, which in turn is putting pressure on demand for farm equipment, it said. Prices for corn, soybeans & wheat have each dropped more than 10% in the past year on expectations of rising global supplies. Net US farm cash income will fall 22% to $102B in 2014, according to a projection from the Dept of Agriculture. US farmers will harvest a record soy crop this year & the dept also predicted record US production of corn. DE also reported that fiscal Q3 EPS was $2.33, down from $2.56. But that exceeded the $2.20 estimate. Equipment sales fell to $8.72B from $9.32B a year earlier, matching the estimate. The company saw an improvement at its construction & forestry business as sales rose 19%, on higher volume & price increases. The company expects worldwide sales of construction & forestry equipment to climb by about 10% for the full year, reflecting further economic recovery & higher housing starts in the US, as well as sales increases outside the US & Canada. Agricultural machinery sales accounted for 78% of revenue in 2013, while construction & forestry made up 16%. The stock fell 30¢. If you would like to learn more about DE, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/DE?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Deere ‘Scaling Back’ Output as It Cuts Forecast
Deere (DE)
News was a bit dreary, but buyers were not deterred. Macy's is a major retailer & its drab results can be expected to be repeated by others, starting with Wal-Mart, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, tomorrow. Retailers have not been able to counter the effect of modest growth of household income which restricts sales growth. The intl front remains glum with the bad guys consolidating gains in northern Iraq. Christians & other minorities are in a desperate state as relief efforts are inadequate. That story is extremely important because ISIS has said its goal is to fly its flag over the White House. Meanwhile Obama is busy playing golf.
Dow Jones Industrials
No comments:
Post a Comment