Dow surged 187 (near the highs for much of the day), advancers over decliners 3-1 & NAZ shot up 87. The MLP index was flat in the 259s & the REIT index added 2 to 261. Junk bond funds rebounded after recent weakness & Treasuries declined while stocks were purchased. Oil was down pennies (more below) & gold fluctuated at 1278.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.8906363366207642)
House Reps passed their version of legislation to overhaul the tax code by slashing the corp tax rate, lowering tax burdens for most individuals & adding an estimated $1.4T to the federal deficit over the next decade. The vote represents a key milestone in Pres Trump's quest to cut taxes for businesses & individuals, though challenges remain for the GOP's far-reaching tax plans to fundamentally reshape aspects of the economy. The Senate is debating its own separate plan & it isn't yet clear the chamber will have enough votes to pass it. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act H.R. 1, passed the House in a 227-205 vote. 13 Reps voted against it, with all but one of them representing high-tax states that have the most to lose from provisions that would eliminate individual deductions for state & local income taxes. “We are in a generation defining moment for our country,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said from the House floor before the vote. “What we’re doing here is not just determining the kind of tax code we’re going to have -- what we are doing here is determining the kind of country we’re going to have.” “Under this plan, the average family at every income level gets a tax cut,” Ryan said.
House Passes Tax Bill in First Step Toward Historic Overhaul
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank Pres Robert Kaplan repeated that he is “actively considering” a possible rate hike at the central bank's next policy meeting. “I‘m very open-minded... about considering taking a next step in removing accommodation at upcoming meetings,” he told reporters after a talk at the Dallas Fed's Houston branch.
A surging online business and strong food sales boosted Walmart's, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, results ahead of the holiday season. The big-box stores fared well overall, at least temporarily allaying fears about competition from the internet. With consumer spending solid & unemployment low, the National Retail Federation trade group expects holiday sales to at least match the 3.6% growth of a year ago. WMT's huge investments in its online business & its fleet have helped to put distance between itself & other traditional retailers. Since buying Jet.com for more than $3B last year, WMT says its food business, critical to drawing shoppers into its stores, had the strongest quarterly performance in nearly 6 years. Overall, the company posted quarterly revenue of $123.18B, surpassing forecasts for $121.05B. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.7% for the US division, the biggest gain since the Q1-2009. Customer counts rose 1.5% & shoppers added one extra item to their cart, which helped boost sales. EPS was 58¢. EPS adjusted to extinguish debt & for non-recurring costs came to $1, beating the estimate of 97¢. WMT expects full-year EPS of $4.38-4.46, up from a forecast for $4.30-4.40 per share. The stock shot up 9.79 (11%). Wow!!
If you would like to learn more about WMT, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/WMT?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
US homebuilders are feeling more optimistic this month, reflecting a recent rebound in sales of newly built homes. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose 2 points to 70 this month, the highest reading since Mar. Readings above 50 indicate more builders see sales conditions as good rather than poor. The index has remained above 60 since Sep of 2016. Expectations were for a reading of 68 among industry analysts. Readings gauging builders' view of single-family home sales rose from Oct, while an outlook for sales over the next 6 months declined. A measure of traffic by prospective buyers also rose. A supply crunch of existing homes has frustrated many would-be buyers & hobbled the housing market this year. At the same time, it's helping to drive more demand for newly built homes. Sales of new homes jumped in Sep to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667K, the highest level in 10 years. A solid job market, low unemployment rate & growing economy have helped drive demand for homeownership. But builders are struggling to keep up with demand, saying they are having difficulty finding the workers they need to start new projects. Construction of new homes fell 4.7% in Sep, the biggest decline in 6 months, reflecting weakness in both single-family activity & apartment buildings. Homebuilders are increasingly focused on higher-priced housing, potentially freezing out potential buyers of more modest incomes. The average price of a new home rose to $385K, the highest on records dating back to 1963. A measure of current sales conditions for single-family homes rose 2 points to 77, while an outlook for sales over the next 6 months slipped one point to 77. Builders' view of traffic by prospective buyers increased 2 points to 50.
US industrial production jumped a solid 0.9% in Oct as manufacturing & utilities grew.
Oil prices edged lower as rising US production & inventories threatened to undermine a rally sparked by tightening world supply as a consequence of OPEC's curbs on output. Brent crude futures were down 43¢ at $61.44. Brent had its 5th consecutive day of declines & US light crude fell 16¢ to $55.17 a barrel, for a 4th straight day of declines. Oil prices have slipped from the 2-year highs hit last week by both crude benchmarks on signs that US supply is rising & could potentially undermine OPEC's efforts to tighten the market. The Energy Information Administration yesterday showed domestic crude inventories rising for a 2nd week in a row, building by 1.9M barrels to 459M barrels. Stockpiles of gasoline also surprisingly rose. The US is expected to account for more than 80% of the growth in world crude supply in the next decade, the International Energy Agency said & weekly data shows ongoing boosts in production. US crude oil production has hit a record of 9.65M barrels per day, meaning output has risen by almost 15% since its mid-2016 low. Expectations that OPEC will agree to extend their supply-cut pact with other major world producers Nov 30 has offset some of the recent pressure on prices. OPEC & non-OPEC exporters including Russia agreed a year ago to cut crude output by 1.8M bpd between Jan this year & Mar 2018 to bolster prices. Oil ministers have signaled that they are likely to extend the agreement, possibly until the end of next year.
Oil slips, as US supply threatens to undermine OPEC cuts
Stocks are back to flying high. While the House vote was critical for passing the tax bill, it is not final. The Senate is working on its version & that is extremely touchy. All Dems will follow marching orders & vote against the bill. That leaves the Reps with a very slim majority in the Senate & some of those votes are fuzzy. Earnings reports today were generally good, but they will mean little if the Senate vote is negative.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
House Reps passed their version of legislation to overhaul the tax code by slashing the corp tax rate, lowering tax burdens for most individuals & adding an estimated $1.4T to the federal deficit over the next decade. The vote represents a key milestone in Pres Trump's quest to cut taxes for businesses & individuals, though challenges remain for the GOP's far-reaching tax plans to fundamentally reshape aspects of the economy. The Senate is debating its own separate plan & it isn't yet clear the chamber will have enough votes to pass it. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act H.R. 1, passed the House in a 227-205 vote. 13 Reps voted against it, with all but one of them representing high-tax states that have the most to lose from provisions that would eliminate individual deductions for state & local income taxes. “We are in a generation defining moment for our country,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said from the House floor before the vote. “What we’re doing here is not just determining the kind of tax code we’re going to have -- what we are doing here is determining the kind of country we’re going to have.” “Under this plan, the average family at every income level gets a tax cut,” Ryan said.
House Passes Tax Bill in First Step Toward Historic Overhaul
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank Pres Robert Kaplan repeated that he is “actively considering” a possible rate hike at the central bank's next policy meeting. “I‘m very open-minded... about considering taking a next step in removing accommodation at upcoming meetings,” he told reporters after a talk at the Dallas Fed's Houston branch.
Fed's Kaplan says open-minded about rate hikes ahead
A surging online business and strong food sales boosted Walmart's, a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, results ahead of the holiday season. The big-box stores fared well overall, at least temporarily allaying fears about competition from the internet. With consumer spending solid & unemployment low, the National Retail Federation trade group expects holiday sales to at least match the 3.6% growth of a year ago. WMT's huge investments in its online business & its fleet have helped to put distance between itself & other traditional retailers. Since buying Jet.com for more than $3B last year, WMT says its food business, critical to drawing shoppers into its stores, had the strongest quarterly performance in nearly 6 years. Overall, the company posted quarterly revenue of $123.18B, surpassing forecasts for $121.05B. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.7% for the US division, the biggest gain since the Q1-2009. Customer counts rose 1.5% & shoppers added one extra item to their cart, which helped boost sales. EPS was 58¢. EPS adjusted to extinguish debt & for non-recurring costs came to $1, beating the estimate of 97¢. WMT expects full-year EPS of $4.38-4.46, up from a forecast for $4.30-4.40 per share. The stock shot up 9.79 (11%). Wow!!
If you would like to learn more about WMT, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/WMT?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Walmart sees strong online sales lift third-quarter results
US homebuilders are feeling more optimistic this month, reflecting a recent rebound in sales of newly built homes. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose 2 points to 70 this month, the highest reading since Mar. Readings above 50 indicate more builders see sales conditions as good rather than poor. The index has remained above 60 since Sep of 2016. Expectations were for a reading of 68 among industry analysts. Readings gauging builders' view of single-family home sales rose from Oct, while an outlook for sales over the next 6 months declined. A measure of traffic by prospective buyers also rose. A supply crunch of existing homes has frustrated many would-be buyers & hobbled the housing market this year. At the same time, it's helping to drive more demand for newly built homes. Sales of new homes jumped in Sep to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667K, the highest level in 10 years. A solid job market, low unemployment rate & growing economy have helped drive demand for homeownership. But builders are struggling to keep up with demand, saying they are having difficulty finding the workers they need to start new projects. Construction of new homes fell 4.7% in Sep, the biggest decline in 6 months, reflecting weakness in both single-family activity & apartment buildings. Homebuilders are increasingly focused on higher-priced housing, potentially freezing out potential buyers of more modest incomes. The average price of a new home rose to $385K, the highest on records dating back to 1963. A measure of current sales conditions for single-family homes rose 2 points to 77, while an outlook for sales over the next 6 months slipped one point to 77. Builders' view of traffic by prospective buyers increased 2 points to 50.
US homebuilder sentiment rises in November
US industrial production jumped a solid 0.9% in Oct as manufacturing & utilities grew.
US industrial production jumped a solid 0.9 percent in October as manufacturing and utilities grew
Oil prices edged lower as rising US production & inventories threatened to undermine a rally sparked by tightening world supply as a consequence of OPEC's curbs on output. Brent crude futures were down 43¢ at $61.44. Brent had its 5th consecutive day of declines & US light crude fell 16¢ to $55.17 a barrel, for a 4th straight day of declines. Oil prices have slipped from the 2-year highs hit last week by both crude benchmarks on signs that US supply is rising & could potentially undermine OPEC's efforts to tighten the market. The Energy Information Administration yesterday showed domestic crude inventories rising for a 2nd week in a row, building by 1.9M barrels to 459M barrels. Stockpiles of gasoline also surprisingly rose. The US is expected to account for more than 80% of the growth in world crude supply in the next decade, the International Energy Agency said & weekly data shows ongoing boosts in production. US crude oil production has hit a record of 9.65M barrels per day, meaning output has risen by almost 15% since its mid-2016 low. Expectations that OPEC will agree to extend their supply-cut pact with other major world producers Nov 30 has offset some of the recent pressure on prices. OPEC & non-OPEC exporters including Russia agreed a year ago to cut crude output by 1.8M bpd between Jan this year & Mar 2018 to bolster prices. Oil ministers have signaled that they are likely to extend the agreement, possibly until the end of next year.
Oil slips, as US supply threatens to undermine OPEC cuts
Stocks are back to flying high. While the House vote was critical for passing the tax bill, it is not final. The Senate is working on its version & that is extremely touchy. All Dems will follow marching orders & vote against the bill. That leaves the Reps with a very slim majority in the Senate & some of those votes are fuzzy. Earnings reports today were generally good, but they will mean little if the Senate vote is negative.
Dow Jones Industrials
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