Dow slid 28, decliners over advancers better than 3-2 & NAZ eased back 19. The MLP index was steady in the 223s & the REIT index was fractionally lower to the 368s. Junk bond funds were pretty much even & Treasuries had a little selling, raising yields (more below). Oil crawled higher in the 77s & gold pulled back a big 28 to 1990.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Procter &
Gamble (PG), a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, lifted its annual sales forecast after price hikes helped fatten quarterly margins. The personal care & hygiene
company credited product mix for margin growth,
saying "Consumers tend to trade up for higher unit sales items." For the qtr, gross margin jumped 150 basis points from year ago, with a 470-basis point boost from increased pricing. The Tide owner now expects an annual hit of about $3.5B related
to higher commodity & freight costs, as well as negative foreign
rates, compared with an earlier estimate of $3.7B. The company said it also expects fiscal 2023 organic sales growth of
about 6%, compared with its previous forecast for a 4-5% increase. For the qtr, EPS was $1.37, up 3% from the same period a
year earlier. The forecast expected EPS of $1.35 on sales of
$19.3B. Meanwhile, net sales rose 4% to $20.1B. PG also raised the upper end of its fiscal 2023 share buyback target
to $7.4-8B of common shares. The stock rose 5.74 (4'%).
If you would like to learn more about PG, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/PG_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6aeoso5b6f7
Proctor & Gamble’s price increases help raise 2023 sales forecast
Treasury yields edged lower after analysts parsed thru the latest economic data after yesterday's findings signaled a potential economic contraction. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note traded flat at 3.538%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury bond was flat at 4.167%. Yields move inversely to prices. Yields declined sharply yesterday as a fresh round of economic reports pointed to a larger-than-expected economic slowdown. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index showed a much greater contraction than forecast this month, while last week's jobless claims increased from the previous week. Investors continue to weigh the Federal Reserve's monetary policy trajectory, with the market pricing in another 25 basis point interest rate hike at the central bank’s early May meeting.
Treasury yields are flat as Wall Street weighs latest economic data
Sen Joe Manchin butted heads with Dept of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm during a Senate hearing on green energy. Manchin expressed frustration with the Inflation Reduction Act's tax credit for electric vehicles, taking issue with loopholes in its distinction between manufacturing & processing of materials. "We want this done in America. We don't want this overseas because basically then there's no urgency for our manufacturing to ever do this," Manchin said. The senator claimed that by grouping the production of cathode powder, lithium & other materials for battery production into "processing," the Energy Dept was loosening its commitment to manufacturing electric vehicles domestically. He continued, "That's the problem I'm having with it. If we're going to get something for it, I don't wanna be relying on foreign supply chains. I'd rather have it right here in the United States, or at least in North America. We have better control." Granholm pushed back on Manchin's criticisms, saying that the supply chains are trending toward domestic production due to the Inflation Reduction Act's provisions. "We should all feel very pleased to note that in this battery supply chain — since these laws and since the beginning of the president's term, there have been 150 battery companies or a supply chain elements that have announced they're opening up in the United States," Granholm said. "Where it would have been, to your point, before in China or in Asia — 150 across all of these states. That equals almost $100 billion worth of investment in the U.S." The Inflation Reduction Act, the legislation from which the rules & others pertaining to things like North American final assembly stem, became law over 7 months ago with Pres Biden's signature. "The policy that this committee and that your leadership as well as others has passed matters. And that's why we're seeing all of these companies come to the United States, including extraction for extraction, for processing, for manufacturing, for the whole supply chain," Granholm added.
Sen Manchin grills Biden's Energy chief over White House EV push
This week earnings & economic news have not been inspiring for investors. So the Dow declined 250. Dow continues to struggle.
Dow Jones Industrials
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