This blog gives investors more financial information for very smart investing!
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Markets crawl higher with oil above 40 again
Dow climbed 35, advancers over decliners 5-4 & NAZ added 6. The MLP index fell 7+ to 310 & the REIT index lost 1+ to 370. Junk bond funds inched higher & Treasuries remained weak. Oil is back above 40 & gold slide lower.
Companies in Jul added workers to US payrolls at a steady pace
from the prior month, showing the
labor market was holding up in spite of broader growth numbers that
indicate a slowing in the economy. Private
payrolls climbed 179K (forecast was 170K) following
a revised 176K gain in Jun, according to the ADP Research Institute. Goods-producing industries, which include manufacturers and builders, cut headcounts by 6K & payrolls at service providers climbed by 185K.
Hiring managers are finding enough stability in the demand outlook to
keep adding to staff even amid rocky global economic conditions. The
gov tally of payrolls rebounded in Jun to an 8-month high,
and the report from the Labor Department on Fri probably will show
employers added to staff at a similar pace to the average this
year. While US consumers have been buoyed by steady job additions,
burgeoning income gains & cheap borrowing costs, overall growth has
shown pockets of weakness in the economy that threaten to derail
job-market progress.
Growth at US service providers cooled in Jul after reaching a 7-month high, consistent with more measured progress in the economy. The 55.5 reading in the Institute for Supply Management
non-manufacturing index followed 56.5 the prior month. Readings above 50 signal
expansion. The forecast called for 55.9. Orders to the service producers (making up about 90% of the
economy) rose to a 9-month high, pointing to further economic growth
as manufacturing stabilizes. A healthy job market, higher property &
stock prices, & low borrowing costs represent a favorable backdrop for
consumer spending coming off its best quarter since 2014. The group's non-manufacturing survey covers an array of industries
including utilities, retailing, and health care, & also factors in
construction & agriculture. The ISM new orders measure advanced to 60.3, the strongest since
Oct, from 59.9. The business activity index, which parallels the factory production gauge, was little changed at 59.3 from the
prior month’s 59.5. The index of non-manufacturing employment decreased to 51.4 from 52.7 the prior month & the gauge of prices paid dropped to 51.9 from 55.5. The ISM manufacturing index released earlier this week showed
activity eased from a one-year high, with orders & production
remaining strong while employers cut staff.
Time Warner
raised its profit forecast for the year & disclosed a 10% stake
in streaming TV service Hulu. The company also
reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as it signed up more
viewers to its premium HBO network. The Hulu deal comes at a time when TWX is facing stiff
competition from streaming services as young viewers ditch traditional cable & shift to online
services. TWX did not disclose the financial terms of the
deal. The company expects adjusted EPSt for the year of $5.35-5.45, up from its previous forecast of $5.30-5.40. Analysts were expecting full-year EPS of $5.39. Revenue from the Turner division rose
6.5% during the qtr & revenue at HBO, which hosts the popular
hit show "Game of Thrones", rose 2%. EPS was 1.20, up from 1.16 a year earlier. Excluding items, EPS was 1.29, compared with the estimate of 1.16. Revenue fell 5.3% to $6.95B from $7.35B, mainly due to a decline in its Warner Bros movie studio. The stock rose 2.38. If you would like to learn more about TWX, click on this link: lub.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/TWX?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
The economic data today was inconclusive Dow is back to where it was a month ago. The stock market remains on defense, looking for reasons to go higher. The Fri jobs report will probably be bland, hard to top the prior one.
No comments:
Post a Comment