All Posts Tagged With: "economy"
(F) U.S. GDP Less Than Expected – Europe Better
While we do have some favorable-looking headlines out of Europe this morning, indicating that Greece is making progress in its talks with the private creditors, the focus today will be on the U.S. economy. The headlines on that count are on the weak side. In its first read on...
30Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AAPL) Focus Moves Toward the Federal Reserve
The focus today will be on the Fed, as the Central Bank unveils a new measure as part of its ongoing efforts to improve communication with the markets. The prospect of an even longer timeframe for lower interest rates, as many in the markets are hoping to come out of today’s...
25Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GOOG) January 20: Markets to Remain Calm – Economic Highlights
With the economic calendar relatively on the thin side, stocks will remain focused on another busy day of earnings reports. Google’s (GOOG) earnings miss potentially raises doubts about the tech sector’s earnings outlook, but the issue appears to be mostly company specific....
20Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ADP) Good News for U.S. Labor Market
Positive domestic data and the resumption of Europe-centric negative headlines will be pushing stocks in opposite directions today. France held an overall successful bond auction, though yields inched up a bit. But Euro-zone worries are getting focused on the region’s banks,...
9Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(IMF) International Monetary Fund Sees Risks Intensifying
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sounded another caveat about the deepening global crisis. According to Christine Lagarde, IMF’s Managing Director, the crisis is unfolding, escalating and spreading across the world. She has even suggested that the world could see a...
19Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) Banks Face Foreclosure Charge Again
In yet another major setback for the foreclosure settlement, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Martha Coakley filed a lawsuit against – JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Bank of America Corporation (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) and Ally Financial...
15Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UAL) Global Airlines Head to Weak 2012
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) cut its global airline industry profit forecast to $3.5 billion for 2012, with a net profit margin of 0.6%. Previously, in September, the Association had forecast profits of $4.9 billion. Tougher conditions will likely stem from...
9Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NRF) Party Time for Retailers
The Thanksgiving weekend brought record sales for retailers who went on to post better-than-expected November comparable-store sales and are now padding up for the holiday season. Does this indicate that the retail party has just begun? Early hours store openings, huge discounts,...
6Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(F) U.S. Auto Industry – Pent-Up Demand or Recovery?
Despite uncertainties in the market, consumers did not step back from the automobile showrooms in November as they felt the ardent need to change their old cars in the garage. Why wouldn’t they be, when the average age of vehicles on U.S. roads is almost 11 years and used cars...
6Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Can You Live Without Debt?
Remember the fictional immigrant Balki from the TV show “Perfect Strangers”? He seemed to speak a universal truth when he said, “Am I in debt? I’m a true American.” Well, not anymore. After being battered by the latest recession, Americans are gradually...
30Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Standard & Poor’s Downgrades Giant Wall Street Banks
On Tuesday, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) lowered its credit ratings for many U.S. and European banks. Out of 37 banks reviewed by S&P, ratings for 15 were downgraded, ratings remained unchanged for 20 and the remaining 2 were awarded upgraded ratings. The banks whose...
30Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedNorth Dakota Oil Production Rivals OPEC
by Ryan Fitzwater, Investment U Research Wednesday, November 30, 2011 By now you’re probably familiar with the Bakken shale formation – but just in case… Located under North Dakota and Montana, oil was first discovered in the Bakken in 1951. Only problem was that back then...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedIs China Being Overvalued?
by Jeannette Di Louie, Investment U Research Tuesday, November 29, 2011 Once upon a time, the term BRIC meant something. Brazil, Russia, India and China were all seen as rising stars in the global economy, and investors couldn’t get enough of them. Not so much anymore. These...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedNorth Dakota Edges U.S. Closer to Energy Independence
by David Fessler, Investment U Senior Analyst Tuesday, November 29, 2011: Issue #1653 Williston, North Dakota is a dusty, prairie town. It’s just a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. Up until a few years ago, few Americans had ever heard of it. Now they’re flocking...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | ContinuedProposed European Bailout Plan Comes Up Short
by Jason Jenkins, Investment U Research Wednesday, November 30, 2011 The plan to increase the capacity of the Eurozone’s European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is in dire straits. Several Eurozone officials have stated that the now €440 billion rescue fund may only...
30Nov2011 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(JCP) U.S. Holiday Preview – National Retail Federation
The National Retail Federation (“NRF”), an industry trade group, projects a 2.8% growth in sales, amounting to $465.6 billion, during the current November to December holiday season, lower than the 5.2% rise in the corresponding period of the previous year. Online retail...
28Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedThanksgiving Holiday – Turmoil in Europe Continued
While the U.S. was focused on feasting, football and shopping, the turmoil in Europe continued. The situation there continues to deteriorate. No longer are the problems confined to the small, relatively insignificant economies around the Mediterranean. This week, they even spread...
28Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(IBM) Is the Time Ripe to Buy Stocks?
It is said that opportunities are never lost — someone else will catch the one you miss. And the saying remains true to the equity market. No one wants to miss a good opportunity to make exceptional profits from stock markets. So, is this the time to take the plunge? Or...
28Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) FDIC Problem Bank List Shrinks – Earnings Soar
The number of banks on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) list of problem institutions saw a sharp decline for the second straight quarter to 844 in the July-September period from 865 in the preceding sequential period, federal regulators reported Tuesday. This...
28Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) Will U.S. Bank Stress Test Protect Our Money?
It’s time again for America’s biggest banks to flex their financial muscles. Yet another round of stress tests await these banks that need to prove their financial prowess, should another recession befall. Among the targeted banks, six that are susceptible to the European...
28Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DHI) U.S. Housing Starts Slip Less Than Expected
We got some fairly good news on the housing front this morning. Housing Starts fell in September to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 628,000 from 630,000 in August, a drop of 0.3%. But the number was much better than the expected level of 603,000. However, the September numbers...
21Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(XOM) U.S. Petroleum and Distillate Stocks Shrink
The U.S. Energy Department’s weekly inventory release showed that crude inventories moved down, while gasoline stocks added to their supplies. The agency’s report further revealed that distillate stockpiles declined for the seventh-straight week. Meanwhile, refiners improved...
20Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AZO) U.S. Retail on the Rise
Total Retail Sales rose 0.5% in October on top of a 1.1% rise in September. Relative to a year ago they are up 7.2%. While the number is not adjusted for inflation (it is, but only for seasonality and holidays) it is still a strong showing. It was also better than the expected...
20Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(RPM) U.S. Air Traffic Shows Mixed for October
Air traffic remained mixed in October, like the month before. Airline traffic is measured in billions of revenue passenger miles (RPM), which implies one mile flown by one passenger. The consolidated October traffic fell 5.1% at the largest U.S. airline United Continental Holdings...
10Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TM) U.S. Sees Best October Auto Sales
Light vehicle sales in the U.S. rose 7.5% to 1.02 million units during October, the best since October 2007, driven by strong sales of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and trucks. At seasonally adjusted annualized rate, sales increased 8% to 13.3 million units from 12.3 million...
6Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(CVS) Greek Turmoil Dominates Headlines
We have a slew of economic and earnings reports on the docket today, but the Greek turmoil will likely continue to dominate the headlines. On the economic front, we got better-than-expected weekly Jobless Claims numbers, raising hopes for a favorable showing from Friday’s...
6Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. Initial Labor Claims Fall Below Key 400,000 Level
Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance finally broke below the key 400,000 level. This week they fell by 9,000, but only after the previous week was revised up by 4,000. So regardless if you count it as a drop of 9,000 or 5,000, we are still at 397,000. This was slightly better...
3Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ADP) Automatic Data Processing Sees 110K Jobs Gained
The Automatic Data Processing (ADP) employment survey was stronger than expected in October. It shows that private sector employment rose by 110,000, above consensus expectations for a 100,000 increase. The September numbers were revised up to a gain of 116,000 jobs from the...
2Nov2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | ContinuedU.S. September 2011 New Home Sales Top Expectations
New Home Sales rose by 5.7% in September from August, to a rate of 313,000. Relative to a year ago, sales are down 0.9%. While the monthly increase is more than welcome, it is still a very dismal rate of new home sales. There was a slight upward revision to the July numbers of...
28Oct2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(EIA) U.S. Energy Department Reports Large Natural Gas Build
The U.S. Energy Department’s weekly inventory release showed a higher-than-expected increase in natural gas supplies, attributable to sagging demand amid robust production. The Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report – brought out by the Energy Information Administration (EIA)...
18Oct2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued