DurableGoods posts
FeedPosted Apr 24th 2009 4:00PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), General Motors (GM), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), American Express (AXP)
Today was a strange day. Durable goods gave little hope and housing data was also lackluster. Yet when you beat lowered estimates that is often enough. The government's "stress tests" look
more like a baseline test for the banks.
Had the DJIA closed a penny above the 8,131.33 level, that would have marked a 7-week rally. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,075.09 +118.03 (1.48%)
S&P 500 866.06 +14.14 (1.66%)
Nasdaq 1,694.29 +42.08 (2.55%)
Top Analyst CallsContinue reading Closing Bell: Almost 7-weeks in a row (GM, JPM, AMZN, AXP, MSFT)
Posted Feb 26th 2009 4:05PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Cisco Systems (CSCO), General Motors (GM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Sears Holdings (SHLD), Amer Intl Group (AIG)
Today's data on the horrible jobless and durable goods data was a blow, but the markets ended up sweeping it under the table. For a bit. Then the Obama budget went to Congress with all the entitlement spending packages and tax increases.
Whether or not these make into law and policy is one thing, but the investment community is beginning to wonder now whether the new rules will make it worthwhile to even invest. That is a sad thought and probably an unfair notion in the end, but this is what traders and investors have said. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 7,182.08 -88.81 (-1.22%)
S&P 500 752.82 -12.08 (-1.58%)
Nasdaq 1,391.47 -33.96 (-2.38%)
Top Analyst CallsContinue reading Closing Bell: Dow down, policy and news keep sellers active; AIG, C, CSCO, SHLD, GM
Posted Oct 29th 2008 10:00AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Economic data
U.S. durable goods orders increased 0.8% in September, boosted by strong demand for airplanes,
the U.S. Commerce Department announced Wednesday.
Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected September durable goods orders to fall 1.1%. Still, durable goods orders decreased a revised 5.5% in August, which was worse than the 4.5% decline announced earlier.
Transportation goods orders skewed the data higher, increasing 6.3% in the month. Excluding transportation, durable good orders declined 1.1% in September. Further, durable goods have now declined 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. However, durable goods orders have increased in four the past five months.
Economist David H. Wang told BloggingStocks Wednesday the durable goods report offered additional evidence of slowing economic activity, but it could have been worse.
"I expected to see an even bigger drop in manufactured goods demand, but do not misunderstand, outside of airplane demand, this is a weak report," Wang said. "With tighter credit for businesses and for consumers with auto purchases and other goods, we're going to continue to see further deterioration in durable good orders in the fall, before a recovery starts early next year."
Continue reading Durable goods orders unexpectedly rise on aircraft demand
Posted Sep 25th 2008 5:20PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Economic data, Housing, Financial Crisis
As Washington tries to come up with an agreement on how to solve the current economic crisis, we received more information today on just how bad things are getting, as figures show
new home sales were very weak during the month of August.
As the credit crunch and falling home values continue to apply pressure to an already weak housing market, the Commerce Department announced today that new home sales in August fell by a sharp 11.5% in August, resulting in a seasonally adjusted sales rate of 460,000 new homes. To find the last time we saw a rate this low, we would have to look all the way back to January of 1991.
As always, Wall Street likes to compare actual numbers to estimates. Had economists been expecting to see a 10% or greater drop in new home sales, that would be one thing, but that was not the case. Going into today's report, economists were expecting to see new home sales fall, though not nearly the 11.5% actual rate, but a much smaller drop of only 1% in the month. So today's reported sales figures are definitely going to add to the confusion that many are feeling regarding the housing market.
Continue reading August home sales highlight an already rocky housing market
Posted Feb 4th 2008 12:05PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Industry, Economic data
U.S. factory orders increased in December 2007 -- a sign that business spending remains resilient even as employers pull-back regarding hiring plans.
Factory orders increased 2.3% in December 2007, in-line with the 2.3% consensus estimate, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Monday,
in a statement. Factory orders rose a revised 1.7% in November 2007. Excluding transportation orders, factory orders increased 0.7% in December 2007.
Durable goods orders drove factory orders -- increasing 5% in the month. Orders for nondurable goods fell 0.4%; machinery increased 7.3%, and electronics rose 4.1%
Continue reading Factory orders increase 2.3% in December, in-line with estimate
Posted Sep 28th 2007 12:25PM by Douglas S. Roberts (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Indices, Market matters, Economic data, Headline news, Housing, Federal Reserve
Several major pieces of economic news were released this morning, and all were good. Personal Spending rose more than expected, the fastest growth in two years. The Chicago PMI report rose more than expected as well. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment report seemed to hold its own. In addition, the core inflation number came in within the Fed's target range.
This is a major contrast to the numbers earlier in the week. Durable Goods and Consumer Confidence reports were terrible, and both Existing and New Home Sales indicated that there appears to be no end in sight for the housing slump. The only good number was Second-Quarter GDP. However, this was prior to the turmoil created in the markets by the credit crisis.
Then, why did the stock market rally on the bad news and is going down today on these positive economic reports? It's the liquidity. The stock market is driven by money and credit. As there is greater availability and lower cost, the market performs better. Who is the ultimate gatekeeper for this? You guessed it: the Federal Reserve.
Continue reading The economy and the Fed: When good news is bad!
Advanced Micro Devices rallies after settling Intel tiff
United Technologies fires up a deal with GE
Cramer on BloggingStocks: Not much time left for downside