Dow climbed 143 (closing near the highs), advancers barely ahead of decliners & NAZ inched up 3. The MLP index crawled higher in the 264s & the REIT index was up 1 to the 356s. Junk bond funds hardly budged & Treasuries were off a tad. Oil rose over 74 (more below) & gold fell 2 to 1256.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.8116015171332475)
The number of small business that aren't able to find enough workers has matched the highest level ever recorded. The percentage of small companies not able to fill open positions hit 36% in Jun, according to the NFIB Research Center, matching the survey's record high set in 2000 (data goes back to 1973). “Labor markets are very tight, for both skilled and unskilled workers,” the NFIB wrote. “More firms are looking for workers than workers looking for a job. And the hiring strength is in industries that pay well: construction, manufacturing, and financial services.” The difficulty in finding qualified workers comes at a time when small business optimism is booming with the survey's main index posting its 6th highest reading ever. For the month of Jun, the index came in at 107.2, down 0.6 from May. Since Dec 2016, the index has averaged an "unprecedented" 105.4, well above the 45-year average of 98 & rivaling the all-time high of 108 in 1983. The organization found in their most recent report that 21% of small business owners cited trouble finding qualified workers as the single most important business problem. According to the Jul Job Opening & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) published today, there were 6.6M open positions in May, more than the 6.1M unemployed persons in during the month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Under normal circumstances, the mismatch would be galvanizing higher wages. However, average hourly earnings rose just 2.7% annualized in June, up 2/10 of a point from May.
More than a third of small businesses can't fill open jobs, a record
Oil industry building pipelines to address America's biggest energy roadblock
Oil prices pared early gains, as supply concerns in Norway & Libya were tempered by the US indication that it would consider requests for waivers from Iranian oil sanctions. Benchmark Brent oil futures were up 84¢ at $78.91 per barrel, after hitting a session peak of $79.51. US light crude futures ended up 26¢ at $74.11, backing off the day's high of $74.70. Earlier in the session, prices had been within striking distance of the 4-year highs. But prices retreated after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US would consider requests from some countries to be exempted from sanctions on Iranian oil that it will put in effect in Nov. The State Dept sent oil prices soaring 2 weeks ago after a senior official said the agency is pushing oil buyers to cut their imports from Iran to zero by Nov 4. Today Pompeo said, "There will be a handful of countries that come to the United States and ask for relief from that. We’ll consider it." Still, Brent was buoyed by a strike by hundreds of workers on Norwegian offshore oil & gas rigs, leading to the shutdown of one Shell-operated oilfield. Also bullish to prices was plummeting production in Libya, where output has halved to 527K barrels per day in 5 months. Yesterday, Suncor Energy (SU) said its 360K bpd Syncrude facility would resume some production in Jul, earlier than expected, following an outage last month that disrupted total output & sent US prices higher.
US crude rises 26 cents, settling at $74.11, after paring gains on chance of Iran sanctions waivers
PepsiCo (PEP), a Dividend Aristocrat, reported fiscal Q2 earnings that beat expectations as sales of Cheetos & other salty snacks continued to offset its slumping soft drinks business. The North American beverage business has been struggling to contend with increased competition from upstart brands & changing consumer tastes. CEO Indra Noovi last qtr placed the blame for slowing sales on increased spending on advertising by the competition. She said Pepsi would respond by increasing spending on its trademark cola brand & improving brand communications. The company has picked 3 of its largest beverage brands, Gatorade, Pepsi & Mountain Dew, to throw its support behind, CFO Hugh Johnston said. Efforts include its Pepsi Generation advertising campaign, the re-release of Baja Blast & the launch of calorie-free Gatorade Zero. Nooyi said that its zero sugar Pepsi drink is doing "exceedingly well" & diet Pepsi is performing well again. But the results didn't impress some analysts. The beverage unit also saw an operating profit decline of 16%, hurt in part by rising trucking & commodity costs. For the qtr, EPS was $1.28, down from $1.46 a year earlier. "Core" EPS was $1.61, which was better than expected (core earnings don't comply with generally accepted accounting principles). Pepsi's excluded changes in the value of derivatives used to offset its commodities costs & a one-time tax expense of $777M resulting from the new tax laws, among other things. Total revenue rose 2.4% to $16.09B, outpacing estimates of $16.04B. Organic revenue growth, which strips out the impact of currency exchange, rose 2.6%. PEP backed its previous financial forecasts for the year. The stock shot up 5.13 (5%).
If you would like to learn more about PEP, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/PEP?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
PepsiCo tops estimates, helped by strong Frito-Lay snacks growth
This was an unusual day for the stock market. The Dow rose out of the gate, followed by more buying in the PM. 9 of the stocks were each up at least 1% & only 4 were in the red. But market breadth was drab & tech stocks on the NAZ, were ignored by the buyers. That's strange behavior. Optimism is high for earnings season which generally suggests that surprises tend to be negative. Meanwhile intl trade issues are confusing, to say the least & that dark cloud shows no sign of going away. In the last 2 weeks, the Dow has risen almost 1K while positive news behind that rise has been unimpressive.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
The number of small business that aren't able to find enough workers has matched the highest level ever recorded. The percentage of small companies not able to fill open positions hit 36% in Jun, according to the NFIB Research Center, matching the survey's record high set in 2000 (data goes back to 1973). “Labor markets are very tight, for both skilled and unskilled workers,” the NFIB wrote. “More firms are looking for workers than workers looking for a job. And the hiring strength is in industries that pay well: construction, manufacturing, and financial services.” The difficulty in finding qualified workers comes at a time when small business optimism is booming with the survey's main index posting its 6th highest reading ever. For the month of Jun, the index came in at 107.2, down 0.6 from May. Since Dec 2016, the index has averaged an "unprecedented" 105.4, well above the 45-year average of 98 & rivaling the all-time high of 108 in 1983. The organization found in their most recent report that 21% of small business owners cited trouble finding qualified workers as the single most important business problem. According to the Jul Job Opening & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) published today, there were 6.6M open positions in May, more than the 6.1M unemployed persons in during the month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Under normal circumstances, the mismatch would be galvanizing higher wages. However, average hourly earnings rose just 2.7% annualized in June, up 2/10 of a point from May.
More than a third of small businesses can't fill open jobs, a record
Pipeline capacity has created major roadblocks for
America's biggest oilfield, known as the Permian Basin, but Texas
Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton said the issue could be solved within
the next year or 2. “The industry is building
new pipelines right now to carry all of that new oil and natural gas
from the Permian Basin all across the country to the refineries along
the Gulf Coast and around the world,” he said. “They are getting that product to the Gulf Coast where it can export oil and natural gas to places like Europe, China.” The Permian Basin is one of the biggest reservoirs of oil in
the world & is located in the western part of Texas & southeast New
Mexico. It may contain as much as 1T barrels
of oil. Until the new pipeline capacity is completed, some crude oil producers will have to deal with output restrictions. “In
the next 12 to 24 months most of the new capacity that the industry
needs will come online,” he said. “But still when you talk about a
6-to-18-month window where there isn’t enough capacity, that’s a big
shock to that system.”
Oil industry building pipelines to address America's biggest energy roadblock
Oil prices pared early gains, as supply concerns in Norway & Libya were tempered by the US indication that it would consider requests for waivers from Iranian oil sanctions. Benchmark Brent oil futures were up 84¢ at $78.91 per barrel, after hitting a session peak of $79.51. US light crude futures ended up 26¢ at $74.11, backing off the day's high of $74.70. Earlier in the session, prices had been within striking distance of the 4-year highs. But prices retreated after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US would consider requests from some countries to be exempted from sanctions on Iranian oil that it will put in effect in Nov. The State Dept sent oil prices soaring 2 weeks ago after a senior official said the agency is pushing oil buyers to cut their imports from Iran to zero by Nov 4. Today Pompeo said, "There will be a handful of countries that come to the United States and ask for relief from that. We’ll consider it." Still, Brent was buoyed by a strike by hundreds of workers on Norwegian offshore oil & gas rigs, leading to the shutdown of one Shell-operated oilfield. Also bullish to prices was plummeting production in Libya, where output has halved to 527K barrels per day in 5 months. Yesterday, Suncor Energy (SU) said its 360K bpd Syncrude facility would resume some production in Jul, earlier than expected, following an outage last month that disrupted total output & sent US prices higher.
US crude rises 26 cents, settling at $74.11, after paring gains on chance of Iran sanctions waivers
PepsiCo (PEP), a Dividend Aristocrat, reported fiscal Q2 earnings that beat expectations as sales of Cheetos & other salty snacks continued to offset its slumping soft drinks business. The North American beverage business has been struggling to contend with increased competition from upstart brands & changing consumer tastes. CEO Indra Noovi last qtr placed the blame for slowing sales on increased spending on advertising by the competition. She said Pepsi would respond by increasing spending on its trademark cola brand & improving brand communications. The company has picked 3 of its largest beverage brands, Gatorade, Pepsi & Mountain Dew, to throw its support behind, CFO Hugh Johnston said. Efforts include its Pepsi Generation advertising campaign, the re-release of Baja Blast & the launch of calorie-free Gatorade Zero. Nooyi said that its zero sugar Pepsi drink is doing "exceedingly well" & diet Pepsi is performing well again. But the results didn't impress some analysts. The beverage unit also saw an operating profit decline of 16%, hurt in part by rising trucking & commodity costs. For the qtr, EPS was $1.28, down from $1.46 a year earlier. "Core" EPS was $1.61, which was better than expected (core earnings don't comply with generally accepted accounting principles). Pepsi's excluded changes in the value of derivatives used to offset its commodities costs & a one-time tax expense of $777M resulting from the new tax laws, among other things. Total revenue rose 2.4% to $16.09B, outpacing estimates of $16.04B. Organic revenue growth, which strips out the impact of currency exchange, rose 2.6%. PEP backed its previous financial forecasts for the year. The stock shot up 5.13 (5%).
If you would like to learn more about PEP, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/PEP?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
PepsiCo tops estimates, helped by strong Frito-Lay snacks growth
This was an unusual day for the stock market. The Dow rose out of the gate, followed by more buying in the PM. 9 of the stocks were each up at least 1% & only 4 were in the red. But market breadth was drab & tech stocks on the NAZ, were ignored by the buyers. That's strange behavior. Optimism is high for earnings season which generally suggests that surprises tend to be negative. Meanwhile intl trade issues are confusing, to say the least & that dark cloud shows no sign of going away. In the last 2 weeks, the Dow has risen almost 1K while positive news behind that rise has been unimpressive.
Dow Jones Industrials
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