Posts Tagged Csco
Today’s Key Market News – Data Retakes Focus
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on April 15th, 2010
The euphoria of the Fed’s big 50 basis point move is now well worn, and the market is refocused on miserable data flow. With concerns raised that the dollar and inflation could prevent a string of Fed cuts, and the memory of Greenspan’s early 2001 ease, after which the market immediately rallied before sinking well below previous lows over the following 21 months, investor confidence is soft. See our thoughts on the dollar in this week’s market-moving event planner, “The Greek’s Week Ahead – The Dollar and the Shadow.”
Today’s report from the ICSC-UBS (see below) showed relative retail weakness, as consumer financial muscle atrophy sets in. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence measure for September was reported at 10:00 AM EDT, and provided further insight into the consumer’s state of affairs. The reported level of confidence, at 99.8, fell off a cliff versus expectations. This news should suck the wind out of the market, and raise new concerns about just how bad things could get within retail and the economy. Also at 10:00, August Existing Home Sales were reported downright disgusting, but about as expected. Home builder Lennar (NYSE: LEN) reported earnings today, showing more red ink than was expected. Home builders have sharply corrected as a result, and you profited if you acted on our advice from within the weekly article. Later this week, KB Homes (NYSE: KBH) will report as well, but Lennar’s news has brought discount to all the builders today, after they rallied last week on the Fed move. We also told you in the weekly article that Lowes (NYSE: LOW) was likely to show the impact of housing on the home supplies retailer, and LOW and Target (NYSE: TGT) both provided reduced forecasts to the market today.
The UAW surprised many industry experts, and my personal contacts at Ford (NYSE: F) alike, this week with the strike move. Wall Street Greek views it as a brilliant strategic action, acting quickly and decisively before its auto governors could move in court to prevent its action. It seems the union still has some power in this country, and though I use to think unions were unnecessary here in the modern day, after my own personal beating by a foolish, ignorant and unappreciative higher up, we have changed our view. In little known Greek trivia, the Wall Street Greek’s grandfather served as a forman at Bethlehem Steel, helping to forge the supports of America.
In an action we believe offering further evidence of opportunity in large cap technology companies involved in facilitating the Internet and computer usage, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) looks to be set to take a stake in Facebook. Recall, some of Wall Street Greek’s favored names in the space include MSFT, Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO. Shortly, we will resume daily publication of “Today’s Coffee,” which we expect to evolve into a end of day market wrap up piece discussing the topics usual covered within the article: economic data, commodity markets, geopolitical factors and company specific issues.
Business News – 11-18-09
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on April 12th, 2010
Visit the front pages of Wall Street Greek to see our current coverage of the day’s business news.
(Tickers: Nasdaq: SMLC, TRMD, ATGN, CSCO, AMTC, CSUN, CYBX, DEST, GYMB, HOTT, JACK, NTAP, NTES, PNNT, PERY, PETM, ESLT, SMTC, SHMR, SOLF, VVTV, WGOV, NYSE: BJ, CHS, DCI, GU, LTD, MTU, TOT, DNA, CF, NM, PVH, AMEX: BMJ, DIA, SPY, QQQQ, NYX, DOG, SDS, QLD, XLF, IWM, TWM, IWD, SDK)
Today’s early business news showed that Housing Starts stopped and mortgage activity continued its slide, and we know why! You’ll see exactly why when we publish our feature article on the subject later today. This report on the day’s business news includes coverage of Housing Starts, Mortgage Activity, Consumer Prices, Petroleum Status, Corporate Earnings, and more. Stocks are only off modestly to start the day, as this bad news is absorbed into a base of recent past improved economic data across the board. However, turns in trend start somewhere, and we may be sitting at the precipice of return to recession, ala double-dip fashion.
Business News
Housing Starts Stopped!
The day’s business news highlights the monthly Department of Housing report showing Housing Starts fell to an annual pace of 529K in October, versus misguided expectations for a pace of 600K. We say misguided for good reason, and boy are we itching to tell you why, but that article is prepared and scheduled for publishing later this day. Just come back a little later…
The slower pace of starts represents a 10.6% fall from September’s revised rate of 592K, and is off 30.7% from last year’s pace. Single family Starts were down 6.8% from September. Permits did better, though also slipped. Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits, a forerunner to actual starts, ran at a pace of 552K, versus September’s revised pace of 575K.
Mortgage Activity Falls Further
The day’s business news also highlights a trend we have well-noted previously that continued again in the week ended November 13. Despite lower contracted rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed rate mortgages to 4.83% (from 4.9%) and 4.32% (from 4.33%), respectively, mortgage activity declined. The Market Composite Index measuring overall mortgage volume fell 2.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The Purchase Index, which measures loans taken out for home purchases, dropped another 4.7%. The Refinance Index fell 1.4%. Take Note: The MBA’s Index has not been this low since 2000.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
A day after the Producer Price Index (PPI) offered a nice bit of business news for inflation watchers, the government released information on consumer level pricing. This data, however, was a bit salty. Headline Consumer Prices rose 0.3% in October, against expectations for a 0.2% increase, according Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The government noted the key drivers as energy and new and used motor vehicle price increase. That information led “The Greek” to scratch his head (or my head if I were sane), because we were under the impression that automakers were slashing prices post “Cash for Clunkers.” We welcome your thoughts here auto market enthusiasts. Comment below. The renewal of energy price inflation is no surprise though, as the energy index has now risen five of the last six months. Headline CPI is now only down 0.2% from the prior year check…
Ex-food and energy, or Core CPI, rose a troubling 0.2%, against expectations for a slighter 0.1% increase. We worry about this figure more, because it excludes the wild swings in energy pricing. This represents a more accurate current metric of inflation, and it’s on the rise at a decent pace for a recessionary period. Core prices also increased 0.2% in September.
Petroleum Status Report
At last check – for the week ended November 6, crude oil inventory increased by 1.8 million barrels and stood slightly above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Gasoline stores also increased by 2.5 million barrels and stood above the upper limit of the average range. Distillate fuel inventories rose 0.3 million barrels, and also stood at above average levels. Look for the latest data at 10:30 AM.
Corporate News Drivers
Agrium’s (NYSE: AGU) offer of $97.47 for the shares of CF Industries (NYSE: CF) expires today. The shares trade at $85, so the deal is apparently not happening. We have not followed this story, but the price action tells us that – the shares would trade at about $97.47 otherwise. Cisco Systems’ (Nasdaq: CSCO) offer for Tandberg is also set to expire today.
An FDA committee will review Genentech’s (NYSE: DNA) and Novartis’ childhood asthma treatment. Also, a French court rules on Total’s (NYSE: TOT) appeal against environmental damages ruled its fault from a ’99 incident.
Wednesday’s EPS schedule includes reports from 012 Smile.Communications (Nasdaq: SMLC), TORM A/S (Nasdaq: TRMD), AltiGen Communications (Nasdaq: ATGN), Ameritrans Capital (Nasdaq: AMTC), Birks & Mayors (AMEX: BMJ), BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ), Chico’s FAS (NYSE: CHS), China Sunergy (Nasdaq: CSUN), Cyberonics (Nasdaq: CYBX), Destination Maternity (Nasdaq: DEST), Donaldson (NYSE: DCI), Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT), Gushan Environmental Energy (NYSE: GU), Gymboree (Nasdaq: GYMB), Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT), Jack in the Box (Nasdaq: JACK), Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MTU), Navios Maritime (NYSE: NM), NetApp Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP), NetEase.com (Nasdaq: NTES), Pennantpark Investment (Nasdaq: PNNT), Perry Ellis Int’l (Nasdaq: PERY), PetSmart (Nasdaq: PETM), Phillips-Van Heusen (NYSE: PVH), Semtech (Nasdaq: SMTC), Shamir Optical Industry (Nasdaq: SHMR), Solarfun Power Holdings (Nasdaq: SOLF), ValueVision (Nasdaq: VVTV), Woodward (Nasdaq: WGOV) and a few others.
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