Well, those last two weeks were certainly fun if you were long equities, so get ready for two weeks of pain, as that seems to be the general pattern of our over-hyped, over-controlled and manipulated crony capitalism markets.
Stocks have run up and down in a range on the S&P 500 from a low of 1099 to a high of 1224 since August 4th, after stocks took a tumble from their late-July highs. Volatility has been unusually high during the period, as uncertainty over US debt, European solvency and the continued threat of global recession weight on investors and speculators.
Starting on Saturday with the ludicrous demands of the G20 central bankers and finance ministers that Europe fix its debt problems by October 23, news flow has once again turned decidedly negative. Upon hearing the dictates from the G20 that leaders attending the European Union summit, "decisively address the current challenges through a comprehensive plan," Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, quickly tamped down expectations through spokesman Steffan Seibert, stating that "the dreams that are emerging again, that on Monday everything will be resolved and everything will be over will again not be fulfilled."
Those were the news items facing stocks in New York as the opening bell approached, but, prior to the regular casino-esque ring-a-ling at 9:30 am EDT, a couple of banks released third quarter earnings that sent futures lower. First up was Citigroup (C), which announced earnings of $1.23 per share on analyst expectations of 88 cents. At first glance, the quarter seemed positive, but accounting gimmicks provided most of the (mostly) phantom revenue.
The results included a pretax gain of $1.9 billion, or 39 cents per share after taxes, due to the bank's widening credit spreads during the quarter. When a bank's debt weakens relative to U.S. Treasuries, it can record an accounting gain because it could theoretically profit from buying back its own debt. Along with the idea that the bank was making money on its own worsening credit risk, Citi also lowered loan-loss reserves, further fluffing the quarterly profit picture.
Initially, investors bought into the grand scheme, sending the stock higher in early trading, but by the end of the day, the ruse had been found out and Citigroup stock sold off by 0.47, ending the session close to its lows, at 27.93.
Wells Fargo (WFC) came out with its earnings right after Citigroup, and though the numbers were more straightforward, the overall picture was dim. The bank said it earned 72 cents per share in the quarter, a penny below consensus estimates. Even though it was an improvement of 21%, revenue was down and the company lowered loan-loss reserved by $800 million, boosting the numbers. Traders sold off the company stock to the tune of a nearly 8.5% loss, ending the day down 2.25, at 24.42.
As if the bad reports from two of the nation's largest banks wasn't enough, New York state's empire manufacturing index continued to scrape along the bottom, posting -8.48 for October after a reading of -8.82 in September. Readings on national capacity utilization and industrial production returned basically flat.
Stocks sold off right at the open and continued a slow, painful decline throughout the remainder of the session. If the whole idea of the rally from the past two weeks was to sell off into options expiration on Friday, the downbeat news arrived right on time.
Even IBM, which reported after the close, could not garner any support. Big Blue was off almost 4% in after-hours trading, following their reported narrow beats on earnings and revenue.
Two more big banks report tomorrow and their 3rd quarters ought to be real doozies. Goldman sachs is expected to post a loss for the quarter, while Bank of America can float out whatever numbers it chooses. Nobody will believe any of them.
Dow 11,397.00 247.49 (2.13%)
NASDAQ 2,614.92 52.93 (1.98%)
S&P 500 1,200.86 23.72 (1.94%)
NYSE Compos 7,188.66 161.80 (2.20%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,711,161,000.00
NYSE Volume 4,203,815,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1322-5177
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 38-47
WTI crude oil: 86.32, -0.48
Gold: 1,676.60, -6.40
Silver: 31.82, -0.35
Monday, October 17, 2011
Payment Processing for Small Business
In order to keep one's business functioning smoothly, with so many different ways consumers spend and receive money, a variety of payment processing services and products are key to prospering in a rapidly-changing environment.
The primary ways people pay are cash and credit/debit cards, so a if a business has retail space it must also have robust POS systems capable of handing all manner of transactions smoothly and seamlessly, and, hopefully, all though one provider. Choice and flexibility are what consumers seek in their payment options.
That means merchants should rely on not many, but one single company to handle all credit/debit card transactions - online, by phone or in-house - with credit card processing services that won't confuse your customers or employees and can provide detailed, instantaneous processing and also offer the merchant an interface for reviewing and downloading transaction report data.
Along with credit-debit card POS systems and processing services, any business handling cash might want to investigate the availability of having ATM machines at retail locations, again providing the customer with choice, while at the same time helping to increase add-on sales. The ability to access additional cash while still inside the merchant location spurs impulse buying and helps bring in extra foot traffic with potential cash in hand.
Today's business challenges are various and complex, but there's no need for business owners or managers to make their lives more difficult by choosing more than one provider for payment services and products. While it's anathema to business to have only one main customer, when it comes to payment processes, having one source for everything from credit to cash to analytics is not only desirable, but ultimately, profitable.
The primary ways people pay are cash and credit/debit cards, so a if a business has retail space it must also have robust POS systems capable of handing all manner of transactions smoothly and seamlessly, and, hopefully, all though one provider. Choice and flexibility are what consumers seek in their payment options.
That means merchants should rely on not many, but one single company to handle all credit/debit card transactions - online, by phone or in-house - with credit card processing services that won't confuse your customers or employees and can provide detailed, instantaneous processing and also offer the merchant an interface for reviewing and downloading transaction report data.
Along with credit-debit card POS systems and processing services, any business handling cash might want to investigate the availability of having ATM machines at retail locations, again providing the customer with choice, while at the same time helping to increase add-on sales. The ability to access additional cash while still inside the merchant location spurs impulse buying and helps bring in extra foot traffic with potential cash in hand.
Today's business challenges are various and complex, but there's no need for business owners or managers to make their lives more difficult by choosing more than one provider for payment services and products. While it's anathema to business to have only one main customer, when it comes to payment processes, having one source for everything from credit to cash to analytics is not only desirable, but ultimately, profitable.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Another Low Volume Upswing
Well, somebody's making money, but there aren't very many people trading. Volume today was among the lowest of the year, and it's supposed to be busy.
Call it what you like, but a 166-point move on the Dow on near-record-low volume, to most experts, is absolutely meaningless and not likely to retain value for long. This market is so full of hope, desperation and inside dealings one could easily assume the only traders left will soon be gnashing at each other's flesh over the few bones left to be picked over.
Of course, this continuing ramp-up on the major averages come just days before the major banks release third quarter earnings next week, among them Citi, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, PNC and Morgan Stanley. JP Morgan Chase already released their third quarter results and they were nothing if not laughable, so full of accounting gimmickry and false statements it's amazing anybody would hold even one share of this global disaster.
Sure, let's buy Apple at over $400 per share, or Google at $600. Most of us would rather stuff it in a mattress, which is the thought around the current war being waged on SAVERS, by SPECULATORS. There is no opportunity to actually earn interest in a savings plan, whether it be in treasuries, money markets, CDs or any other, so-called "safe" strategic asset. And the pundits, like the Reverend Jim Cramer, who say to buy high-yielding industrials, are whistling past the grave, because a stock like Coca-Cola (KO) sporting a 2.8% dividend and trading currently in the mid-to-high 60s, only has to lose two to three points in order to wipe out all of that dividend income. When the eventual market crash comes, the dividend checks cashed over the years will look truly pathetic to the lost value in the stock itself, and thus, your capital has been wasted, your savings destroyed.
Since the global banking cartel, in association with the spendthrift governments of the world, now control just about all major markets, including commodities such as oil, gold and silver, there is literally nowhere to invest safely except in unknown penny stocks or completely local. That's right, you're probably better off loaning the kid down the street $5000 to get his computer repair business off the ground than sinking your hard-earned-and-eventually-taxed-out-of-existence money into any Wall Street-related stock or scheme, and today's absurdly low volume on top of many previous ridiculously low volume days over the past year proves that people have not only lost money with Wall Street, but are rapidly losing their patience - see the Occupy Wall Street movement - and their interest in the future of big business in America.
As has been said before on this blog, the current economic climate is ripe for collapse, and the only investments should be in tools of trades and basic survival equipment. There's probably a good opportunity in firewood upcoming this winter, as the control fraud in heating oil and natural gas will bury even more families this winter under unbearable expense.
It is distressing, to say the least, to watch the European leaders lie about having a plan, making a plan, preparing a plan to save the continent when in reality all they can do is what the Federal Reserve is so expert at: printing more money and devaluing the currency.
And one final word, on this Herman Cain and his idiotic 9-9-9 plan which includes a 9% income tax, a 9% corporate tax and a 9% national sales tax. To put it into the words of somebody I know and love well, "this plan is another way for the rich to get richer and the poor poorer. Most of the people in the higher tax brackets love it because they're paying something North of 35% presently in income tax, and many of them have businesses paying a 35% corporate income tax. On the other end, the people who will be most damaged by this stupid gimmick of a plan will be the poor and middle class, who already pay no tax because they don't make enough money and would have to pay an additional 9% sales tax on top of the state sales tax they're already having ripped from their hands by incompetent state governments.
What is truly amazing about Herman Cain is that he is a front-runner for the Republicans on the basis of this plan. A Herman Cain presidency would plunge 2/3rds of the nation into abject poverty, and maybe that's part of the plan, to turn America into another stinking third world backwater. They're doing a pretty good job on it so far. Mr. Cain is about as fit to be president as Charlie Sheen. Actually, Charlie might not do such a bad job. At least his press conferences would be #winning events.
What a country, full of liars and thieves at the very pinnacle of business and politics.
Dow 11,644.49, +166.36 (1.45%)
NASDAQ 2,667.85, +47.61 (1.82%)
S&P 500 1,224.58, +20.92 (1.74%)
NYSE Composite 7,350.46, +121.38 (1.68%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,687,163,000
NYSE Volume 4,057,578,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 5103-1362
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 52-32
WTI crude oil: 86.80, +2.57 (Why?)
Gold: 1,683.00, +14.50
Silver: 32.17, +0.51
Call it what you like, but a 166-point move on the Dow on near-record-low volume, to most experts, is absolutely meaningless and not likely to retain value for long. This market is so full of hope, desperation and inside dealings one could easily assume the only traders left will soon be gnashing at each other's flesh over the few bones left to be picked over.
Of course, this continuing ramp-up on the major averages come just days before the major banks release third quarter earnings next week, among them Citi, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, PNC and Morgan Stanley. JP Morgan Chase already released their third quarter results and they were nothing if not laughable, so full of accounting gimmickry and false statements it's amazing anybody would hold even one share of this global disaster.
Sure, let's buy Apple at over $400 per share, or Google at $600. Most of us would rather stuff it in a mattress, which is the thought around the current war being waged on SAVERS, by SPECULATORS. There is no opportunity to actually earn interest in a savings plan, whether it be in treasuries, money markets, CDs or any other, so-called "safe" strategic asset. And the pundits, like the Reverend Jim Cramer, who say to buy high-yielding industrials, are whistling past the grave, because a stock like Coca-Cola (KO) sporting a 2.8% dividend and trading currently in the mid-to-high 60s, only has to lose two to three points in order to wipe out all of that dividend income. When the eventual market crash comes, the dividend checks cashed over the years will look truly pathetic to the lost value in the stock itself, and thus, your capital has been wasted, your savings destroyed.
Since the global banking cartel, in association with the spendthrift governments of the world, now control just about all major markets, including commodities such as oil, gold and silver, there is literally nowhere to invest safely except in unknown penny stocks or completely local. That's right, you're probably better off loaning the kid down the street $5000 to get his computer repair business off the ground than sinking your hard-earned-and-eventually-taxed-out-of-existence money into any Wall Street-related stock or scheme, and today's absurdly low volume on top of many previous ridiculously low volume days over the past year proves that people have not only lost money with Wall Street, but are rapidly losing their patience - see the Occupy Wall Street movement - and their interest in the future of big business in America.
As has been said before on this blog, the current economic climate is ripe for collapse, and the only investments should be in tools of trades and basic survival equipment. There's probably a good opportunity in firewood upcoming this winter, as the control fraud in heating oil and natural gas will bury even more families this winter under unbearable expense.
It is distressing, to say the least, to watch the European leaders lie about having a plan, making a plan, preparing a plan to save the continent when in reality all they can do is what the Federal Reserve is so expert at: printing more money and devaluing the currency.
And one final word, on this Herman Cain and his idiotic 9-9-9 plan which includes a 9% income tax, a 9% corporate tax and a 9% national sales tax. To put it into the words of somebody I know and love well, "this plan is another way for the rich to get richer and the poor poorer. Most of the people in the higher tax brackets love it because they're paying something North of 35% presently in income tax, and many of them have businesses paying a 35% corporate income tax. On the other end, the people who will be most damaged by this stupid gimmick of a plan will be the poor and middle class, who already pay no tax because they don't make enough money and would have to pay an additional 9% sales tax on top of the state sales tax they're already having ripped from their hands by incompetent state governments.
What is truly amazing about Herman Cain is that he is a front-runner for the Republicans on the basis of this plan. A Herman Cain presidency would plunge 2/3rds of the nation into abject poverty, and maybe that's part of the plan, to turn America into another stinking third world backwater. They're doing a pretty good job on it so far. Mr. Cain is about as fit to be president as Charlie Sheen. Actually, Charlie might not do such a bad job. At least his press conferences would be #winning events.
What a country, full of liars and thieves at the very pinnacle of business and politics.
Dow 11,644.49, +166.36 (1.45%)
NASDAQ 2,667.85, +47.61 (1.82%)
S&P 500 1,224.58, +20.92 (1.74%)
NYSE Composite 7,350.46, +121.38 (1.68%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,687,163,000
NYSE Volume 4,057,578,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 5103-1362
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 52-32
WTI crude oil: 86.80, +2.57 (Why?)
Gold: 1,683.00, +14.50
Silver: 32.17, +0.51
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Harrisburg, PA Bankrupt, Max Keiser, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Zarkozy, Switzerland WIR, Google Earnings
Stocks vacillated today somewhat like they're supposed to in normal times, though these are no normal times in which we are living. Tape-watching in the age of high frequency trading and intellectual dispiritedness has an intoxicating allure and can become addictive.
Sparing the details, stocks were lower in the morning and staged a half-hearted rally on low volume in the afternoon. Sound familiar? Yes, computers. Kind of just going with the flow, or lack thereof. These last two days of trading could also be interpreted as outward manifestations of the liquidity, solvency and currency confidence crises as various macro sectors of the global economy grind inexorably toward a perceived halt, the term "perceived" included to indicate that markets are not entirely frozen, that there is always some urchin of trade lurching about, no matter how unwieldy the underlying system.
A few news items:
From Wednesday: City of Harrisburg, PA, capitol of Pennsylvania, declares bankruptcy. This is a sad, though poignant story of our times. A city of 46,000 with about $500 million worth of bad debt, or, debt that won't be repaid. Will there be a follow-on effect? Actually, there has to be and the situation is fluid, with the state trying to tell the Harrisburg City Council that they cannot declare bankruptcy. But they did, anyway...
Google Earnings (after the bell, today) - nice, 26% profit increase and other nice metrics. They're rocking, but for search, Bing is better.
Also after the bell, Fitch puts Barclays Bank plc, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank AG, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale on Rating Watch Negative. At the same time, Fitch has placed the short-term IDRs of four of the banks on Rating Watch Negative.
Dow 11,478.13, -40.72 (0.35%)
NASDAQ 2,620.24, +15.51 (0.60%)
S&P 500 1,203.66, -3.59 (0.30%)
NYSE Composite 7,229.08, -34.61 (0.48%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,683,142,125
NYSE Volume 4,397,526,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2755-3644
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 20-35 (reversal signal)
WTI crude oil: 84.23, -1.34
Gold: 1,668.50, -14.10
Silver: 31.67, -1.12
I love it when a plan comes together and the clip of the Kaiser Report below fits like a favorite pair of jeans. Plenty from which to watch, enjoy and learn.
Sparing the details, stocks were lower in the morning and staged a half-hearted rally on low volume in the afternoon. Sound familiar? Yes, computers. Kind of just going with the flow, or lack thereof. These last two days of trading could also be interpreted as outward manifestations of the liquidity, solvency and currency confidence crises as various macro sectors of the global economy grind inexorably toward a perceived halt, the term "perceived" included to indicate that markets are not entirely frozen, that there is always some urchin of trade lurching about, no matter how unwieldy the underlying system.
A few news items:
From Wednesday: City of Harrisburg, PA, capitol of Pennsylvania, declares bankruptcy. This is a sad, though poignant story of our times. A city of 46,000 with about $500 million worth of bad debt, or, debt that won't be repaid. Will there be a follow-on effect? Actually, there has to be and the situation is fluid, with the state trying to tell the Harrisburg City Council that they cannot declare bankruptcy. But they did, anyway...
Google Earnings (after the bell, today) - nice, 26% profit increase and other nice metrics. They're rocking, but for search, Bing is better.
Also after the bell, Fitch puts Barclays Bank plc, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank AG, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale on Rating Watch Negative. At the same time, Fitch has placed the short-term IDRs of four of the banks on Rating Watch Negative.
Dow 11,478.13, -40.72 (0.35%)
NASDAQ 2,620.24, +15.51 (0.60%)
S&P 500 1,203.66, -3.59 (0.30%)
NYSE Composite 7,229.08, -34.61 (0.48%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,683,142,125
NYSE Volume 4,397,526,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2755-3644
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 20-35 (reversal signal)
WTI crude oil: 84.23, -1.34
Gold: 1,668.50, -14.10
Silver: 31.67, -1.12
I love it when a plan comes together and the clip of the Kaiser Report below fits like a favorite pair of jeans. Plenty from which to watch, enjoy and learn.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Market Melt-up Continues for US Stocks
News from Europe that the Slovakian government would re-vote on extending additional bailout funds to banks via the ESFS was like a sugar-coated treat to the childish cretins of the Wall Street investment community.
Shortly after the close of markets in the US yesterday, the Slovakian parliament became the only one of 17 countries to turn down the additional relief package proposal, sending shock waves throughout the EU and the rest of the financial universe. The package needed the approval of all members. Within minutes, however, there was talk of a deal on a re-vote, paving the way for a steady flow of funds to repair badly-damaged and close to insolvent European banks which have bourn the brunt of rolling bailouts to Greece, Ireland, Portugal and soon, Spain and Italy.
There was widespread optimism that the Slovak parliament would rework the proposal to fit their agenda and save Europe from imminent collapse. As has been the case for so long with all things Euro-related, the overseeing body of the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB), a slight shift or change in the rules always seems to be the tonic whereby the Euro remains a "viable" currency and staves off the collapse, first, of Greece, and eventually the entire structure upon which the Euro currency is based.
With such confidence that European leaders would tread along the same path upon which the US staved off financial armageddon in 2008 after the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy, stocks were sent higher throughout the session, assured that the classic Ponzi scheme of international finance has finally gone global.
Along that line of thinking, John Embry, Chief Investment Strategist of Sprott Asset Management, said, in an interview with King World News, that stocks could decline by 40% if the European crisis turns into a repeat of 2008, and added, "I think investors have to be aware of the degree of manipulation in all of the markets here and not make the mistake of being momentum players. They shouldn’t just try to go with what is working and jump on board because a lot of this is manufactured for the sake of appearances."
Exactly. Global leaders don't want to see another major disruption like that of 2008, because their main concern is holding onto the reins of power they have secured, even if it means lying about where money is coming from, going to, bank balance sheets, stress tests and just about everything else if it means they get to keep their high posts.
While banks and the people who run them are most responsible for economic calamities over the past few years, politicians share much of the blame, enabling the ill-conceived schemes of the financial class with endless bailouts, ruses and guarantees while much of the global economy is reduced to a pile of worthless, paper rubble.
There was some late-day selling - a chink in the globalist armor and yet another indication of manipulated markets as there was no move to quiet the rally - and stocks finished with only about half of the gains racked up over the session. For instance, the Dow Jones Industrials were up by 209 points at about 2:30 pm, but closed with a gain of just 102. It pays to be a tape watcher these days, as waves of both buying and selling can occur at any time on any given day, no matter the news.
Only on major company reported earnings after Alcoa kicked off 3Q earnings season with a substantial miss on income Tuesday. PepsiCo (PEP) reported before the open that it had earned 1.31 per share after some one-time items, beating the Street estimates by a penny. The gains were largely attributed to Pepsi's aggressive pricing policy in which the company boosted prices around the world on its popular soft drink and snack brands.
Therein lies the conceit and thinly-veiled deceit of Wall Street. PepsiCo saw margin compression in the quarter, as operating margin narrowed to 16.5 percent from 18 percent a year earlier. Earnings for the giant company - with revenue approaching $18 billion in the quarter - have been mostly flat for the past year. Price increases, workforce reductions, cost-cutting and balance sheet shenanigans are what drives this company these days. Growth is largely the result of internal manipulations, not market share increases. Over the past five years, growth has slowed to a mediocre 5.87% per year, though making even that low level over the past few years has been difficult.
Dow 11,518.85, +102.55 (0.90%)
NASDAQ 2,604.73, +21.70 (0.84%)
S&P 500 1,207.25, +11.71 (0.98%)
NYSE Composite 7,263.69, +102.43 (1.43%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,998,280,250
NYSE Volume 5,355,361,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 5250-1511
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 41-35 (a reversal, which should not last)
WTI crude oil: 85.57, -0.24
Gold: 1,682.60, +21.60
Silver: 32.79, +0.79
Shortly after the close of markets in the US yesterday, the Slovakian parliament became the only one of 17 countries to turn down the additional relief package proposal, sending shock waves throughout the EU and the rest of the financial universe. The package needed the approval of all members. Within minutes, however, there was talk of a deal on a re-vote, paving the way for a steady flow of funds to repair badly-damaged and close to insolvent European banks which have bourn the brunt of rolling bailouts to Greece, Ireland, Portugal and soon, Spain and Italy.
There was widespread optimism that the Slovak parliament would rework the proposal to fit their agenda and save Europe from imminent collapse. As has been the case for so long with all things Euro-related, the overseeing body of the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB), a slight shift or change in the rules always seems to be the tonic whereby the Euro remains a "viable" currency and staves off the collapse, first, of Greece, and eventually the entire structure upon which the Euro currency is based.
With such confidence that European leaders would tread along the same path upon which the US staved off financial armageddon in 2008 after the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy, stocks were sent higher throughout the session, assured that the classic Ponzi scheme of international finance has finally gone global.
Along that line of thinking, John Embry, Chief Investment Strategist of Sprott Asset Management, said, in an interview with King World News, that stocks could decline by 40% if the European crisis turns into a repeat of 2008, and added, "I think investors have to be aware of the degree of manipulation in all of the markets here and not make the mistake of being momentum players. They shouldn’t just try to go with what is working and jump on board because a lot of this is manufactured for the sake of appearances."
Exactly. Global leaders don't want to see another major disruption like that of 2008, because their main concern is holding onto the reins of power they have secured, even if it means lying about where money is coming from, going to, bank balance sheets, stress tests and just about everything else if it means they get to keep their high posts.
While banks and the people who run them are most responsible for economic calamities over the past few years, politicians share much of the blame, enabling the ill-conceived schemes of the financial class with endless bailouts, ruses and guarantees while much of the global economy is reduced to a pile of worthless, paper rubble.
There was some late-day selling - a chink in the globalist armor and yet another indication of manipulated markets as there was no move to quiet the rally - and stocks finished with only about half of the gains racked up over the session. For instance, the Dow Jones Industrials were up by 209 points at about 2:30 pm, but closed with a gain of just 102. It pays to be a tape watcher these days, as waves of both buying and selling can occur at any time on any given day, no matter the news.
Only on major company reported earnings after Alcoa kicked off 3Q earnings season with a substantial miss on income Tuesday. PepsiCo (PEP) reported before the open that it had earned 1.31 per share after some one-time items, beating the Street estimates by a penny. The gains were largely attributed to Pepsi's aggressive pricing policy in which the company boosted prices around the world on its popular soft drink and snack brands.
Therein lies the conceit and thinly-veiled deceit of Wall Street. PepsiCo saw margin compression in the quarter, as operating margin narrowed to 16.5 percent from 18 percent a year earlier. Earnings for the giant company - with revenue approaching $18 billion in the quarter - have been mostly flat for the past year. Price increases, workforce reductions, cost-cutting and balance sheet shenanigans are what drives this company these days. Growth is largely the result of internal manipulations, not market share increases. Over the past five years, growth has slowed to a mediocre 5.87% per year, though making even that low level over the past few years has been difficult.
Dow 11,518.85, +102.55 (0.90%)
NASDAQ 2,604.73, +21.70 (0.84%)
S&P 500 1,207.25, +11.71 (0.98%)
NYSE Composite 7,263.69, +102.43 (1.43%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,998,280,250
NYSE Volume 5,355,361,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 5250-1511
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 41-35 (a reversal, which should not last)
WTI crude oil: 85.57, -0.24
Gold: 1,682.60, +21.60
Silver: 32.79, +0.79
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
