Dow sank 279 (near the lows), decliners over advancers 4-1 & NAZ fell 75. The MLP index dropped 3+ to 443 & the REIT index lost 1+ to the 329s. Junk bond funds slid lower & Treasuries went up when stocks sold off. Oil pulled back after recent gains from its yearly lows & gold inched higher.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.3268864044747227)
Greece’s major creditors are not ready to let the country drop out of the euro as long as Prime Minister Tsipras shows willingness to meet at least some key demands, according to 2 leakers. Chancellor Merkel will go a long way to prevent a Greek exit from the single currency, though only so far. Every possibility is being considered in Berlin to pull Greece back from the brink & keep it in the 19-nation euro. For all the foot-dragging by Greece, some creditors are willing to show the country more flexibility in negotiations over its finances to prevent a euro exit. The red line is that the Syriza-led gov shows readiness to commit to at least some economic reform measures. The brinkmanship has sent Greek gov bonds heading toward their worst week since Tsipras’s election. Euro-area finance ministers are next due to discuss progress on Greece at their meeting on Apr 24. Greece’s gov remains confident an interim agreement with its creditors allowing disbursement of bailout funds can be reached by the end of Apr. “We’re of the view that Greece will hold to the commitments it made to the institutions,” Merkel’s deputy spokesman said. Intl creditors won’t cut Greece loose if the country falls short of its stalled bailout review commitments, even considerably short, according to another leaker. They will only contemplate an exit if the gov does nothing to comply or backtracks on reforms already implemented as part of the country’s €240B ($259B) bailout. Broadening the tax base & improving tax collection, reform of the pension system, & the deregulation of goods & labor markets to spur competition are among the recommendations for the Greek gov. In the event of a missed payment, there is no specific plan B to keep Greece in the currency area because the consequences of a so-called Grexit scenario are extremely hard to predict.
General Electric, a Dow stock, beat Q1 profit estimates as
rising sales of power-generation equipment cushioned the drag from low
crude prices on its oilfield-machinery business. While revenue fell short of projections, GE reiterated
that it expects to meet its 2015 industrial EPS forecast. The results came a week after GE announced a sweeping strategy shift
to exit most of its GE Capital finance business. Excluding costs related
to those planned divestitures, adjusted EPS from continuing
operations was 31¢, topped the 30¢ estimate. “GE had a good quarter in a slow growth and volatile environment,”
CEO Jeffrey Immelt said. “We’re seeing the world we planned for.” Excluding the proposed divestitures, revenue fell 3% to $33.1B, trailing the $34.2B estimate.
On that basis, adjusted profit from continuing operations slid 5%
to $3.1B. With the GE Capital effect, sales were down 12% to $29.4B, & the adjusted loss from continuing operations was $10.9B. Industrial margins, a metric used by investors to gauge the strength
of GE’s operations, rose 1.2 percentage points to 14.6%. For the full year, industrial EPS should be $1.10-$1.20, GE said, reaffirming an earlier forecast. The stock was off pennies in a weak market. If you would like to learn more about GE, click on this link:
http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=GE&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Schlumberger shares rose after tight cost controls helped the world's #1 oilfield services provider report higher-than-expected margins in Q1. While it said that lower activity & pricing pressure led to a 9% drop in quarterly revenue, profits came in well ahead of expectations. "Market pricing for certain products and services (in North America) has already reached unsustainable levels," CEO Paal Kibsgaard said. "However, we are being selective in the pursuit of market share and very disciplined in the avoidance of loss-making contracts." The company now plans to cut 11K jobs, bringing the total job cuts announced this year to 20k, about 15% of its workforce. Its cost of revenue fell 7% & operating margins shrunk to 17.6% from 19.3% a year earlier, but were higher than some estimates. The stock went up 96¢. If you would like to learn more about SLB, click on this link:
http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=SLB&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Stocks have a fair amount of news to digest & most is not good. Early earnings are not great, as expected. Extending the Greek bailout package is getting the most attention & doubts are growing about Greece remaining in the eurozone. The gov is not delivering an austerity budget & the rest of the euro group is getting ready to throw in the towel. There will be more bargaining & nobody knows how that will turn out. However, one new thought of not extending the debts is being discussed. The stock market is troubled & earnings can not be counted on to bring back buyers. Believe it or not, Dow is up 50 in Apr.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CLK15.NYM | Crude Oil May 15 | 55.59 |  1.12 (2.0%) |
Greece’s major creditors are not ready to let the country drop out of the euro as long as Prime Minister Tsipras shows willingness to meet at least some key demands, according to 2 leakers. Chancellor Merkel will go a long way to prevent a Greek exit from the single currency, though only so far. Every possibility is being considered in Berlin to pull Greece back from the brink & keep it in the 19-nation euro. For all the foot-dragging by Greece, some creditors are willing to show the country more flexibility in negotiations over its finances to prevent a euro exit. The red line is that the Syriza-led gov shows readiness to commit to at least some economic reform measures. The brinkmanship has sent Greek gov bonds heading toward their worst week since Tsipras’s election. Euro-area finance ministers are next due to discuss progress on Greece at their meeting on Apr 24. Greece’s gov remains confident an interim agreement with its creditors allowing disbursement of bailout funds can be reached by the end of Apr. “We’re of the view that Greece will hold to the commitments it made to the institutions,” Merkel’s deputy spokesman said. Intl creditors won’t cut Greece loose if the country falls short of its stalled bailout review commitments, even considerably short, according to another leaker. They will only contemplate an exit if the gov does nothing to comply or backtracks on reforms already implemented as part of the country’s €240B ($259B) bailout. Broadening the tax base & improving tax collection, reform of the pension system, & the deregulation of goods & labor markets to spur competition are among the recommendations for the Greek gov. In the event of a missed payment, there is no specific plan B to keep Greece in the currency area because the consequences of a so-called Grexit scenario are extremely hard to predict.
Greece's Main Creditors Said to Be Unwilling to Allow Euro Exit
GE Power Sales Boost Profit Past Estimates Amid Oil Slump
General Electric (GE)
Schlumberger shares rose after tight cost controls helped the world's #1 oilfield services provider report higher-than-expected margins in Q1. While it said that lower activity & pricing pressure led to a 9% drop in quarterly revenue, profits came in well ahead of expectations. "Market pricing for certain products and services (in North America) has already reached unsustainable levels," CEO Paal Kibsgaard said. "However, we are being selective in the pursuit of market share and very disciplined in the avoidance of loss-making contracts." The company now plans to cut 11K jobs, bringing the total job cuts announced this year to 20k, about 15% of its workforce. Its cost of revenue fell 7% & operating margins shrunk to 17.6% from 19.3% a year earlier, but were higher than some estimates. The stock went up 96¢. If you would like to learn more about SLB, click on this link:
http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=SLB&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Schlumberger Shares Up as Cost Cuts Impress
Schlumberge (SLB)
Stocks have a fair amount of news to digest & most is not good. Early earnings are not great, as expected. Extending the Greek bailout package is getting the most attention & doubts are growing about Greece remaining in the eurozone. The gov is not delivering an austerity budget & the rest of the euro group is getting ready to throw in the towel. There will be more bargaining & nobody knows how that will turn out. However, one new thought of not extending the debts is being discussed. The stock market is troubled & earnings can not be counted on to bring back buyers. Believe it or not, Dow is up 50 in Apr.
Dow Jones Industrials
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