Dow dropped 260, decliners over advancers about 3-1 & NAZ declined 139. The MLP index fell 3+ to the 158s & the REIT index was steady at 366. Junk bond funds slid lower & Treasuries continued to be sold. Oil was off 1+ to 52 following its recent rally & gold sank 26 to 1825.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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Retail sales fell for a 3rd straight month as a surge in virus cases kept people away from stores during the holiday shopping season. The report is another sign that the pandemic is slowing the US economy. Last month, the country lost jobs for the first time since the spring. And gov numbers out this week reported a spike in weekly unemployment claims, indicating that rising infections are forcing businesses to cut back & lay off workers. The Commerce Dept said retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in Dec from the month before. They also fell in Oct & Nov, even though many retailers tried to get people shopping early for their Christmas gifts by offering deals before Halloween. Some retailers have already indicated that they had an unhappy holiday season.
US retail sales fell in December for 3rd straight month
JP MorganChase (JPM), a Dow stock & the nation's largest lender, posted higher profit than expected as trading income spiked amid volatility from the presidential election & customer borrowing increased. EPS
of $3.07, excluding the release of funds previously set aside
to cover loan losses, topped the $2.62 estimate. Total revenue climbed 3% to $30.2B, outpacing estimate of $28.7B. Congressional
action on a 2nd coronavirus-relief package & the development of
vaccines to treat the deadly disease enabled the lender to free $2.9B in loan reserves, though it still retains a sizeable $30B, reflecting "significant near-term economic uncertainty," CEO
Jamie Dimon said. That "will allow us to withstand an economic environment far worse than the current base forecasts by most economists," he added. Revenue
in the trading business climbed 20% to $5.9B amid
fights over the outcome of the US presidential election & Britain's exit from the EU, with gains of 15% on
the bond desk & 32% in stocks. The stock dropped 3.79.
If you would like to learn more about JPM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/JPM?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
JPMorgan revenue spikes as COVID-19 relief soothes economic pain
Citigroup (C) posted Q4 results that beat the estimate. EPS fell 7% to $2.08, compared with
the $1.34 expected. Companywide revenue fell 10% to $16.5B, below the estimate of
$16.7B. The
bank released $1.5B in reserves for credit losses, a move that
was bigger than expected. That compared with a reserve
build of $436M in Q3 & $253M a year
earlier. As a result, credit costs in the period were more than $2B less than a year earlier. “As a sign of the strength and durability of our diversified franchise,
our revenues were flat to 2019, despite the massive economic impact of
COVID-19,” outgoing CEO Mike Corbat said. Citi has said it expected Q4 trading revenues to climb
15% from a year earlier, while investment banking fees should climb by
10% to 15%. The stock fell 3.10.
If you would like to learn more about Citi, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/C?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Citigroup beats analysts’ profit estimates but revenue falls short
While retail sales disappointed, that was not a big surprise. The economic recovery has been under a lot of pressure from gloomy data on the virus war. And bank earnings were not pretty. The size of Biden's package was largely in line with expectations & would be rivaled only by
the $2.2T relief from the CARES Act last spring. However it's not
clear if the package will be approved. The stock market is struggling today.
Dow Jones Industrials
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