Market recap: Stocks finished near session highs, and the S&P tallied a fifth straight record close, as profit outlooks from companies including Electronic Arts helped boost sentiment. Industrial metals moved higher after China's better-than-expected trade surplus, which saw strong improvement in imports and exports. Treasurys rose despite a tepid auction; gold climbed 1.7%. [View news story]
Price to Sales today 1632/1108 (estimated TTM) = 1.47.... When the S&P 500 hit its high on October 9,2007 this ratio was 1.55....1565/1005...we are high but not nosebleed levels
The 5% yield barrier on junk bonds (HYG, JNK) is broken for the first time ever, the Barclays U.S. High Yield Index sliding to 4.97% (prior to Jan., the yield had never fallen below 6%). Spreads to Treasurys remain at a not-unreasonable 406 bps, far wider than the record-tight 223 points reached just as the gates of financial heck were about to open in 2007. In the meantime, the equity of highly non-wobbly companies like RDS.A, VOD, and GSK yields in the area of 5%. "We don't want to question the market," writes the FT's David Keohane, "but: what the (heck)?" [View news story]
Savings Deposits (getting practically nothing in yield) to GDP is now 42%....previous recorded high before the recession was 34.4% in the 4th qtr 1964....
Unable to find things to do with its cash, Seth Klarman's Baupost Group is expecting to return capital to investors before year's end, according to its latest quarterly letter. The $26.7B fund, which has compounded investor money annually by 19% since 1982, has returned money just one other time - in 2010 (though it turned around and raised capital in 2011). (earlier from Klarman) [View news story]
Evidence suggests some retailers and restaurants have already started to limit staff to working 30 hours or less per week to avoid possible penalties for not offering health insurance to full-time employees, Capital Economics writes. This could explain why average weekly hours in the retail sector has fallen over the past 12 months, "while average hours worked across the private sector as a whole has been broadly unchanged." [View news story]
Evidence suggests some retailers and restaurants have already started to limit staff to working 30 hours or less per week to avoid possible penalties for not offering health insurance to full-time employees, Capital Economics writes. This could explain why average weekly hours in the retail sector has fallen over the past 12 months, "while average hours worked across the private sector as a whole has been broadly unchanged." [View news story]
Plumbing and HVAC contractors still rocking at 39.1 hrs.... Cookies Crackers Pasta and Tortilla workers at 38.9 hrs
Evidence suggests some retailers and restaurants have already started to limit staff to working 30 hours or less per week to avoid possible penalties for not offering health insurance to full-time employees, Capital Economics writes. This could explain why average weekly hours in the retail sector has fallen over the past 12 months, "while average hours worked across the private sector as a whole has been broadly unchanged." [View news story]
Retail Trade is 15.077 million....Total Private payroll is 113.630 million... 13.2% of Private workforce...
This time is different for Treasurys (TLT, TBT)? "The Fed has been very transparent and their transparency should help offset the risks that were experienced in 1994," says JPMorgan's head of rates Edward Fitzpatrick. He's joined in this opinion by others who ought to know better, including Templeton's Michael Materasso and Vanguard's Gemma Wright-Casparius, all of whom attribute the 1994 rout to communication, not a crazed buildup in leverage. [View news story]
Different world 1994,,,Gross Private Domestic Investment to GDP went from 14.1% to 15.7% from 3q 1993 to 2nd qtr 1994,,,,today we are 13.5% and increasing at a y-o-y rate of .4%...
McDonald's (MCD -0.5%) is considering expanding its breakfast menu to an all-day service, according to a Bloomberg TV report. The idea has been shot down in the past because it raises the logistical issue of how to cook hamburgers and eggs on a grill of a limited size, but the temptation is increasing with the company claiming 25% of the breakfast market share on solid traffic. [View news story]
Laszlo Birinyi ups his S&P 500 (SPY) target this year to 1,900, the index having already hit his original 1,600 guess. He says this year's bull market most resembles the patterns etched in 1982 and 1990, suggesting another 20% of upside. "In addition to the historical parallels, we still view sentiment as subdued and nowwhere approaching extremes." [View news story]
well let's see..Est..TTM Sales per share at end of 2013...1135... 1900/1135 = 1.67....sounds a little like 90's exuberance....Seinfeld anyone???
The Best Way To Hedge Against A Stock Market Decline [View article]
Market recap: Stocks finished near session highs, and the S&P tallied a fifth straight record close, as profit outlooks from companies including Electronic Arts helped boost sentiment. Industrial metals moved higher after China's better-than-expected trade surplus, which saw strong improvement in imports and exports. Treasurys rose despite a tepid auction; gold climbed 1.7%. [View news story]
When the S&P 500 hit its high on October 9,2007 this ratio was
1.55....1565/1005...we are high but not nosebleed levels
The 5% yield barrier on junk bonds (HYG, JNK) is broken for the first time ever, the Barclays U.S. High Yield Index sliding to 4.97% (prior to Jan., the yield had never fallen below 6%). Spreads to Treasurys remain at a not-unreasonable 406 bps, far wider than the record-tight 223 points reached just as the gates of financial heck were about to open in 2007. In the meantime, the equity of highly non-wobbly companies like RDS.A, VOD, and GSK yields in the area of 5%. "We don't want to question the market," writes the FT's David Keohane, "but: what the (heck)?" [View news story]
4th qtr 1964....
The Bull-Bear Case For Equities [View article]
Whole Foods Markets (WFM): FQ2 EPS of $0.76 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $3.00B (+13% Y/Y) in-line. Shares +7.3% AH. (PR)
[View news story]
Do you still believe in this sales guidance?
Whole Foods Markets (WFM): FQ2 EPS of $0.76 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $3.00B (+13% Y/Y) in-line. Shares +7.3% AH. (PR)
[View news story]
When Will The Fed's Easing Measures End? The Unemployment Rate Is The Key [View article]
Unable to find things to do with its cash, Seth Klarman's Baupost Group is expecting to return capital to investors before year's end, according to its latest quarterly letter. The $26.7B fund, which has compounded investor money annually by 19% since 1982, has returned money just one other time - in 2010 (though it turned around and raised capital in 2011). (earlier from Klarman) [View news story]
Evidence suggests some retailers and restaurants have already started to limit staff to working 30 hours or less per week to avoid possible penalties for not offering health insurance to full-time employees, Capital Economics writes. This could explain why average weekly hours in the retail sector has fallen over the past 12 months, "while average hours worked across the private sector as a whole has been broadly unchanged." [View news story]
Evidence suggests some retailers and restaurants have already started to limit staff to working 30 hours or less per week to avoid possible penalties for not offering health insurance to full-time employees, Capital Economics writes. This could explain why average weekly hours in the retail sector has fallen over the past 12 months, "while average hours worked across the private sector as a whole has been broadly unchanged." [View news story]
Cookies Crackers Pasta and Tortilla workers at 38.9 hrs
Evidence suggests some retailers and restaurants have already started to limit staff to working 30 hours or less per week to avoid possible penalties for not offering health insurance to full-time employees, Capital Economics writes. This could explain why average weekly hours in the retail sector has fallen over the past 12 months, "while average hours worked across the private sector as a whole has been broadly unchanged." [View news story]
Why I Remain Bearish Despite The Cyclical Bull Rally [View article]
your results??
This time is different for Treasurys (TLT, TBT)? "The Fed has been very transparent and their transparency should help offset the risks that were experienced in 1994," says JPMorgan's head of rates Edward Fitzpatrick. He's joined in this opinion by others who ought to know better, including Templeton's Michael Materasso and Vanguard's Gemma Wright-Casparius, all of whom attribute the 1994 rout to communication, not a crazed buildup in leverage. [View news story]
McDonald's (MCD -0.5%) is considering expanding its breakfast menu to an all-day service, according to a Bloomberg TV report. The idea has been shot down in the past because it raises the logistical issue of how to cook hamburgers and eggs on a grill of a limited size, but the temptation is increasing with the company claiming 25% of the breakfast market share on solid traffic. [View news story]
Laszlo Birinyi ups his S&P 500 (SPY) target this year to 1,900, the index having already hit his original 1,600 guess. He says this year's bull market most resembles the patterns etched in 1982 and 1990, suggesting another 20% of upside. "In addition to the historical parallels, we still view sentiment as subdued and nowwhere approaching extremes." [View news story]
1900/1135 = 1.67....sounds a little like 90's exuberance....Seinfeld
anyone???