Dow edged up 22, advancers over decliners better than 3-2 & NAZ inched up 2. The MLP index went up 3+ to 200 & the REIT index slid back 2+ to the 467s. Junk bond funds drifted lower & Treasuries were sold. Oil was slightly higher in the 88s & gold gained 9 to 1805.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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Americans continued to quit their jobs in droves in Dec, underscoring how persistent turmoil in the labor market has made it difficult for employers to fill open positions. The Labor Dept said that 4.3M Americans, about 3% of the workforce, quit their jobs in Dec. That's down from a fresh high of 4.5M in Nov, but is well above the pre-pandemic level of about 3.6M. Meanwhile, the number of job openings rose to 10.9M by the end of Dec.
Job openings stay elevated as Americans keep quitting
Exxon Mobil (XOM), a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, profit jumped more than 80% year over year during Q4
amid a rebound in oil & gas prices, the company said. With XOM in a stronger financial position, it will
begin to buy back stock during the first qtr. EPS rose to $2.05 excluding items, ahead of the
$1.93 that was expected. Revenue came
in at $85B, which was short of the $91.8B expected. In
the same qtr one year ago EPS was 3¢
excluding items on sales of $46.5B. During Q3-021 the EPS was $1.58 on an adjusted basis, on sales
of $73.8B. In the latest qtr XOM generated $48B of cash flow from operating activities, which was the highest
since 2012. The company also paid down an additional $9B in debt
during Q4, reducing debt by $20B over the course
of full-year 2021. The debt level is now back to pre-pandemic
levels. “Our new streamlined business structure is another example of the
actions we are taking to further strengthen our competitive advantages
and grow shareholder value,” CEO Darren Woods said. “We’ve made great progress in 2021 and our forward plans
position us to lead in cash flow and earnings growth, operating
performance, and the energy transition.” For 2022, XOM expects to spend $21-24B. The stock rose 4.98 (7%).
If you would like to learn more about XOM click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/XOM_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f
Exxon Mobil’s fourth-quarter profit tops estimates as oil and gas prices soar; shares rise
Treasury yields moved higher as investors weighed new data about inflation & the economy. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 2 basis points to 1.807% & the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose 4 basis points to 2.136%. Yields move inversely to prices & 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%. The move in yields comes after the ISM Manufacturing purchases managers index for Jan showed slight growth & higher prices paid. The ISM Prices Index rose 7.9 percentage points to 76.1%. The Federal Reserve has previously indicated that it would monitor the recovery in the labor market to help inform its plans for tightening monetary policy. The Fed signaled last week that it could start raising interest rates in Mar to combat higher inflation.
10-year Treasury yield tops 1.8% as manufacturing data shows rising prices
Dow Jones Industrials
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