MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Tuesday, May 21
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7:01 AM Best Buy (BBY): Q1 EPS of $0.32 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $9.38B misses by $1.26B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!
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6:58 AM United Continental (UAL) says it signed a capacity agreement with Skywest (SKYW) to operate 40 Embraer 175 aircraft under the United Express brand name. The deal is in addition to previous Embraer 175 jets ordered for United Express. [Consumer] Comment!
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6:53 AM Shares of Home Depot (HD) move 4.3% higher premarket after the retailer beats earnings and raises its guidance. The company benefited from strength in the housing recovery which seemed to trump the disruptions from weather and late tax refunds that plagued other retailers. Customer traffic was up 2.5% during the period while the average ticket rose a brisk 5%. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
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6:10 AM More on Home Depot (HD): Earnings beat expectations on both the top and bottom line as Q1 revenues rise 7.4% Y/Y. A "seasonal timing change" adds $574M to sales. Comps growth comes in at 4.3% (4.8% in the U.S.). "Less favorable" weather conditions were more than offset by a "recovering housing market," CEO Frank Blake says. HD raises its FY13 outlook, saying it sees 2.8% sales growth, 4% comps growth, and EPS of $3.52 (consensus is $3.54). Shares +2.92% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
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6:01 AM Home Depot (HD): Q1 EPS of $0.83 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $19.1B (+7.4% Y/Y) beats by $0.41B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!
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6:00 AM Overseas: Japan +0.13%. Hong Kong -0.54%. China +0.22%. India -0.51%. London +0.02%. Paris -0.48%. Frankfurt -0.44%. Comment!
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5:57 AM Italy's former technocratic leader Mario Monti doesn't agree with George Soros and others who say the stability in the Italian bond market (ITLY, ITLT) is merely the proverbial calm before the storm. The ECB is better equipped now than previously to handle disruptions in the sovereign debt market, Monti says, adding that in his opinion, the steep decline in yields on Italian sovereign debt is sustainable. Monti also predicts that another election is not imminent in Italy as electoral law reform will take at least six months to complete. [Global & FX] Comment!
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5:40 AM Goldman Sachs lifts its forecasts for the S&P 500 (SPY), as David Kostin and company now say they expect the index to gain 5% by year-end to 1,750, 9% to 1,900 in 2014, and 10% to 2,100 in 2015. The rationale: expectations of above-trend real GDP growth beginning next year (Mr. Evans' "escape velocity" ?) coupled with P/E multiple expansion to 16x. Furthermore, dividends should rise ~30% over the next two years, bolstering the firm's claim that dividend-paying equities (DVY) are one of the only places U.S. investors can look to for income-generation. Some of GS's dividend picks, as listed on MarketWatch: Mattel (MAT), Ford (F), Philip Morris (PM), Walgreen (WAG), Chevron (CVX), U.S. Bancorp (USB), GE, Western Union (WU), Dow Chemical (DOW), and AT&T (T). 2 Comments
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5:18 AM Anecdotal evidence from a dozen countries suggests to Goldman's Sheila Patel that the so-called "great rotation" into stocks is taking place, albeit at a "gradual" pace. "People are moving money," she says, adding that it has taken three decades for asset allocations to favor fixed income over equities and that precedent won't be reversed "overnight." Comment!
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5:09 AM Inflation in the U.K. rose just 2.4% in April, a seven month low and down from 2.8% in March. Economists were expecting a reading of 2.6%. Core inflation came in at 2%, the lowest level in three-and-a-half years. Some economists now say consumer price increases may peak at 3% this summer rather than the forecasted 3.5%, and note that inflation may hit the Bank of England's 2% target by H1 2015. Sterling (FXB) declined against the dollar following the news, falling 0.54% to 1.517. [Global & FX] Comment!
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4:34 AM Vodafone (VOD): FQ4 organic service revenue -4.2% (in line, but worst quarterly drop on record): -12.8% in Italy and -11.5% in Spain. Impairment charge of £1.8B in Italy, bringing total impairments for Spain and Italy to £7.7B for the full year during which sales were down 4.2%, to £44.4B and core earnings were off 3.1% to £13.3B. Adjusted operating profit beats, rising 9.3% to £12B. The company said it will keep its 45% share of Verizon's (VZ) dividend payment to shore up operations. [Tech, Earnings] 1 Comment
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12:00 AM Tuesday's economic calendar:
7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
11:30 Fed's Bullard: Monetary Policy Comment!
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