Dow dropped 207, decliners over advancers better than 2-1 & NAZ tumbled 245. The MLP index fell 1+ to the 203s & the REIT index was off 1 to the 471s. Junk bond funds slid lower & Treasuries were heavily sold, bringing higher yields. Oil was flattish in the 88s & gold gave back 7 to 1802.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits declined last week, the latest sign that business demand for workers remains elevated amid an ongoing labor shortage. Figures released from the Labor Dept show that applications for last week fell to 238K from a revised 261K a week earlier, beating the 245K forecast. Continuing claims, or the number of Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment aid, fell to 1.6M, a decrease of 44K from the previous week. The report shows that roughly 2M Americans were collecting jobless benefits for latest week, a modest increase from the previous week; by comparison, just a little over one year ago, an estimated 18.5M Americans were receiving benefits. The latest jobless figures come as a recent surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious omicron variant begins to ease. But experts warn the unprecedented rise in cases will have a glaring impact on the more closely watched Jan jobs report, out out tomorrow. The report is expected to show that the economy added just 150K jobs last month, although the White House is publicly bracing for an even uglier –& possibly negative – number. Claims have continually declined as the economy recovers from the pandemic & Americans venture out to travel, shop & eat. Businesses have struggled to keep up with the demand, however & have reported difficulties in onboarding new employees. Today's report suggests that companies are making an effort to retain the workers they already have.
Number of jobless claims down as workers stay in demand
Facebook parent Meta (FB) sank 23% after the company forecast weaker-than-expected revenue growth in the next qtr. It also said
it's taking a big hit from Apple's (AAPL) privacy changes & showed the first
quarterly decline in daily active users on record. The company, which released earnings under its new name for the first
time with a new reporting structure, missed EPS estimates for Q4 at $3.67 vs. $3.84 that was expected. But it beat on revenue for the qtr, at $33.7B vs
$33.4B estimated. Still, its revenue forecast of $27-29B for Q1 fell below expectations of $30.15B. The company said AAPL's iPhone privacy changes, which impact its ad-targeting & measuring, would result in a $10B revenue hit this year. It also said macroeconomic challenges like inflation & supply chain disruptions, are weighing on advertiser budgets. The stock plunged 80+ (25%) to the 242s.
If you would like to learn more about FB click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/FBa_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f
Facebook shares plummet 23% after reporting weak guidance
Merck (MRK), a Dow stock, sold $952M of its Covid-19 treatment pill molnupiravir in Q4, saying it's on track to sell another $5-6B more this year. Most of its sales so far have been
concentrated in the US, the UK & Japan, the company said after
releasing earnings results that beat revenue & profit
forecasts. MRK delivered 1.4M courses to the US after the Food & Drug Administration after the agency authorized the pill in Dec CEO
Rob Davis said MRK is on track to fulfill its commitment in the
coming days of delivering 3.1M courses to the US & the company
will ship 4M courses to 25 countries worldwide soon,.
MRK shares profits from molnupirvar equally with its partner Ridgeback
Biotherapeutics. “We’ve shown that molnupiravir works against
omicron, which is important against that variant,” Davis said. “And obviously we’ll have to see how this
plays out and what is the initial uptake but right now we feel we’re off
to a good start,” he added. Adjusted EPS was $1.80 vs.$1.53 expected on revenue of $13.5B vs $13.2B expected. MRK swung to a $3.82B profit in Q4 from a loss of $2.6B in the same qtr in 2020. In
clinical trials, molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or
death in Covid patients by 30% & slashed the risk of dying by 90%. The stock dropped 2.45.
If you would like to learn more about MRK click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/MRKa_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f
Merck expects to sell $5 billion to $6 billion of its new Covid treatment pill in 2022
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