Business News Archives for 2016-05

The End of Another Month

It is the last trading day of May. The Dow is set to post its fourth straight monthly advance, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq appear set to mark a third straight month of gains. (CNBC)

Economic growth slowed in the first quarter although not as sharply as initially thought. Gross domestic product rose at a 0.8% annually. It was the weakest performance since the first quarter of 2015. The economy has been hurt by a strong dollar and sluggish global demand, which has eroded export growth. Spending on residential construction was up 17.1%. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity increased at a pace of 1.9%. (Commerce Department)

Norm Thompson Outfitters, Oregon's once-iconic catalog retailer has filed notice 46 employees will be laid off of the 82 people employed in Oregon. Thirteen of the remaining will work at a new satellite office near the current office and 23 could be relocated to Massachusetts or Pennsylvania if they want to move. The retailer is known for its upscale clothing. The company was founded in Oregon in 1949. In 2006, Norm Thompson was sold to San Francisco investment firm Golden Gate Capital. (OregonLive)

MSCI International Index is up 0.50%.

Oil is up 25 cents at $49.60 a barrel.

Gold is down $3 at $1214 a Troy ounce.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Another Oregon Company gets Bought

Orders for manufactured goods surged in April, but continued to see weakness in business spending. Durable goods orders jumped 3.4% last month after an upwardly revised 1.9% increase in March. Manufacturing accounts for 12% of the economy. (Commerce Department)
 
U.S. home sales in April rose 5.1% moth over month, hitting the highest level in a decade. The National Association of Realtors pending home sales index up 4.6% from last April.  The index in the West grew 11.4% monthly and is up 2.8% from a year ago. The inventory of existing homes for sale in April was 3.6% lower than a year ago.
 
Is this a rerun? Wells Fargo is offering a 3% down payment mortgage for first-time buyers and low-income buyers. The minimum FICO score for these loans is 620. (CNBC)
 
Another Oregon publically held company has been bought.  Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world's largest maker of scientific instruments, is buying Hillsboro-based FEI for about $4.2 billion. The $107.50 per share offer represents a premium of 13.7% to FEI's close yesterday. FEI designs and manufactures electron microscopes.  FEI employs more than 3,000 persons and generated revenue of $930 million in 2015.
 
Join us this weekend for Financial Focus Radio, the truth in wealth building, when we say thanks to those that have served this Country.
 
S&P 500 is up 4 and the NASDAQ is up 13.  MSCI International Index is up 0.10%.
 
Oil is down 50 cents at $49 a barrel.
 
Gold is flat at $1223 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Sears and Costco: Two Sides of the Retail Coin

Stocks are higher following the best two-day rally since March. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are coming off their highest closes in nearly a month. (CNBC)
 
Total mortgage applications climbed 2.3% week over week. Applications are 24% higher than one year ago.  
Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 5% for the week and up 17% from one year ago. Applications to refinance were flat for the week. The average loan size for purchase applications reached a record of $307,700. (Mortgage Bankers Association)
 
Sears continues its slow and steady march to death as a business. Sales continued to fall in the first quarter with same store sales down 5.9%. Sears lost $471 million compared with $303 million they lost last year. It is also looking to peddle its brands Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard as well as the Sears Home Services business. (USA Today)
 
Costco saw no growth in quarterly same store sales at U.S. stores for the first time in more than six years. Excluding the impact of fuel and currency fluctuations, same store sales climbed 3%. Profits rose almost 6% to $545 million. (Reuters)
 
S&P 500 is up 3 and the NASDAQ is up 8.  MSCI International Index is up 0.25%.
 
Oil is up 50 cents at $50 a barrel. That is the first time about $50 a barrel in 7-months.
 
Gold is up $2 at $1226 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Tight New Home Inventory

The rally of yesterday is looking at a second day in early trading. Tuesday the S&P 500 had its biggest one-day gain since March 11th. (Seeking Alpha)
 
New single-family home sales surged 16.6% to an annual rate of 619,000 units, the highest level since January 2008.  Prices hit a record high. With tight supply, the median price for a new home increased 9.7% from a year ago to a record $321,100. Inventory of new homes on the market fell 0.4%. That is only a 4.7-month supply of homes on the market. (CNBC)
 
No Greek debt scare this summer. Euro zone finance ministers, Greece and the IMF agreed on a deal to address Greek debt relief. Greece has agreed to more austerity and reform measures. (Reuters)
 
The end of an experiment gone wrong. Microsoft is the ending of its Nokia phone business by cutting 1,850 smartphone jobs and taking a charge of $950 million. They acquired Nokia's phone business in 2014 for $7.2 billion. In 2015 they wrote off $7.6 billion and cut 7,800 jobs. (The Verge)
 
Anheuser-Busch InBev, owners of Bends 10 Barrel Brewing, is being investigated by US antitrust officials over incentives that encourage distributors to sell more of the company's brands rather than competing craft beers. (CNBC)
 
S&P 500 is up 11 and the NASDAQ is up 25.  MSCI International Index is up 0.75%.
 
Oil is up 44 cents at $49.04 a barrel.
 
Gold is down $6 at $1224 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Yuan Not a Market Currency

Best Buy's first-quarter profits climbed 78% to $229 million. Sales fell 1.3% to $8.4 billion in the quarter. Sales at U.S. Best Buy stores open at least a year fell 0.1%. The stock is down over 5% in early trading on a poor sales forecast going forward and the departure of the CFO. (USA Today)
 
Death of the iPhone maybe premature.  Apple has asked its suppliers to make more iPhone 7 units than anticipated. Apple ordered up to 78 million units by year end, above expectations of 65 million. (Economic Daily)
 
For those who worry about the dollar losing its reserve currency status take solace. Chinese policy makers have abandoned an effort to allow market forces to set the value of the yuan. The People's Bank of China's March meeting minutes show bank officials are focused on maintaining stability at the expense of a shift towards market-based currency policy. (Wall Street Journal)
 
Coca-Cola is halting production in Venezuela due to a lack of sugar in that country. Production of diet drinks containing no sugar are continuing normally. (CNBC)
 
S&P 500 is up 12 and the NASDAQ is up 26.  MSCI International Index is flat.
 
Oil is up 31 cents at $48.39 a barrel. Oil is on a four days losing streak as the dollar strengthens.
 
Gold is down $11 at $1241 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Starting a New Week on an Up Note

Stocks are essentially flat this morning.  Friday's surge pushed the S&P 500 to break a three-week losing streak and the Nasdaq to end a streak of four down weeks in a row. (CNBC)
 
U.S. existing home sales increased 1.7% in April to an annual rate of 5.45 million units.  Home sales surged in the Midwest by 12.1% and also rose in the Northeast while the South and West saw declines.
The number of unsold homes on the market rose 9.2% to 2.14 million month over month.  But inventory is down 3.6% from a year ago. First-time homebuyers rose to 32% of all buyers from 30% a year ago. Nationwide, the median home price is $232,500. That is an increase of 6.3% from last year. (National Association of Realtors)
 
Monsanto the seeds and chemicals maker received a bid from German drug maker Bayer in a deal worth a total of $62 billion.  The $122 per share in and assumed debt is a more than 20% premium to Friday's closing price. (CNBC)
 
Boeing has won an $11.3 billion jet order from Vietnam's VietJet, (Reuters)
 
MSCI International Index is flat.
 
Oil is down 60 cents at $47.82 a barrel.
 
Gold is down $3 at $1250 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Lots of Money Being Borrowed

Those green machines, Deere & Co, cut its money making forecast as they suffer through a global farm recession and weak construction equipment markets. The company forecast 2016 sales will decline 9%. Deere profits fell to $495.4 million. Sales decreased 4% to $7.88 billion. (Reuters)

The index of leading economic indicators shot up 0.6% in April confirming a solid month for economic data. The index had been essentially flat for five months and this is the first gain for the index since November. Manufacturing was good with factory hours the second largest positive. Building permits were another major boom area. The only negative of the 10 index components was consumer confidence. (Econoday.com)

Auto sales are at a near record levels and so is the amount of money borrowed to buy those cars, trucks and SUVs.  Auto loans topped $1 trillion for the first time ever in the first quarter of 2016. Up 10% from a year ago. In the first quarter leases jumped 27% to an all-time high of $76.9 billion. (Experian)

U.S. credit-card balances are on track to hit $1 trillion in 2016. Credit card balances are nearing levels last seen just before the 2008 financial crisis. (Wall Street Journal)

Join us this weekend for Financial Focus Radio ( http://financialfocusradio.com/ ) when we will talk taxes with our CPA friend Greg Fowler or Fowler & Associates.

S&P 500 is up 9 and the NASDAQ is up 21.  MSCI International Index is flat.

Oil is down 10 cents at $48.07 a barrel.

Gold is up $2 at $1257 a Troy ounce.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Wal-Mart posts Good Numbers

Yesterday was a chopped ride as Mr. Market clearly forgot to take his medication. The Dow, was up over 100 points ahead of the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting, swung more than 200 points to 100 points into the red, before closing the trading session little changed. (CNBC)

Walmart's profits fell in the first quarter, but were much better than expectations. Sales at Walmart US stores increased 1%, the seventh consecutive quarter of growth for Walmart's in the US. Sales increased 0.9% to $115.9 billion. Profits fell 7.8% to $3.1 billion. Walmart continued its commitment to higher wages which impacted the bottom line.  It is also spending more on technology. (USA Today)

Total mortgage applications fell 1.6% last week. Applications were up 18.4% from a year ago. Applications to purchase a home, fell 6% last week. Purchase volume is 12% higher than one year ago. Applications to refinance a home loan rose 1% from the previous week and are 24% higher than one year ago. The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 3.82%.  (Mortgage Bankers Association)

MSCI International Index is flat.

Oil is down $1.04 at $47.17 a barrel.

Gold is down $22 at $1252 a Troy ounce.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Factory Output Climbs

Stocks are lower this morning, following yesterday's losses of about 1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have declined four of the past five sessions. (CNBC)
 
Factory output expanded in April by 0.3%. Overall industrial output rose 0.7%. Mining output fell 2.3%.  The industrial sector has been hurt by a slowing global economy and strong dollar. Manufacturing output has been flat or negative in four of the last six months. Industrial capacity use jumped 0.5% to 75.4%. (Reuters)
 
Consumer prices posted their biggest increase in more than three years last month up 0.4% as gasoline and rents jumped. Medical and food prices also increased. In April, gasoline prices jumped 8.1%, the largest gain since August 2012. Food prices rose 0.2%. (Reuters)
 
Lowe's, the home improvement chain saw profits rise to $884 million, up 31% from a year earlier. Lowe's raised its full-year profit forecast to $4.11 per share from about $4. Sales at stores open more than a year climbed 7.3%. (Reuters)
 
The CEO of Gap says he would consider Amazon as a distributor of the company's products, saying to not consider Amazon as a possible outlet for sales would be "delusional." (Bloomberg)
 
MSCI International Index is up 0.05%.
 
Oil is up 7 cents at $48.38 a barrel.
 
Gold is down $1 at $1276 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Home Depot Rocks It!

U.S. stocks have been flat this morning, after the Dow surged over 1% yesterday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both broke a three trading session losing streaks. (CNBC)

It may or may not be the good spring weather but consumers are feeling more optimistic in May. The Index of Consumer Sentiment hit 95.8 this month the highest level since last June. (CNBC)

Home Depot posted quarterly profits of $1.8 billion up 14% over the same period a year earlier. Sales jumped 9% to $22.8 billion.  The company raised its forecast for the rest of the year and now projects a sales increase of 6.3%. The average Home Depot customer spent $60.03 in the quarter, up 2.4% from a year earlier. Sales per square foot rose 6.5% to $376.73. (USA Today)

It is called talking your book.  Trying to get other people to do your bidding to make millions. George Soros, who's been warning a 2008-type financial crisis could be repeated due to China's economic slowdown, has disclosed he's doubled his wager against the S&P 500 in the first quarter, while turning upbeat on gold. (Reuters)

MSCI International Index is flat.

Oil is up 17 cents at $47.89 a barrel.

Gold is up $1 at $1276 a Troy ounce.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Lots of Good Economic Data

Business inventories rose 0.4% in March. Automobile supply posted its biggest increase since 2013 up 2.3%. Inventories are a key component of gross domestic product. (Reuters)

Producer prices rose in April by 0.2% as energy prices increased. In the last 12 months the PPI is unchanged. Inflation continues to be restrained by the lingering effects of the dollar's surge and oil price plunge. Last month, energy prices increased 0.2%, wholesale food prices fell 0.3% and chicken eggs tumbled 34%. (Reuters)

Retail sales in April recorded their biggest increase in a year as sales jumped 1.3%. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales jumped 0.9%.(Reuters)

Costco and Wal-mart have them and now so will Amazon.  The internet retail giant is rolling out private label food brands soon. The private label names will be Happy Belly, Wickedly Prime, and Mama Bear.  They will be put on items like nuts, spices, tea, coffee, baby food, and vitamins. (WSJ)

S&P 500 is up 5 and the NASDAQ is up 11.  MSCI International Index is up 0.25%.

Oil is up $1.09 at $47.26 a barrel.

Gold is up $12 at $1284 a Troy ounce.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Nordstrom's Tanks

It is Friday the 13th and markets are a little skittish. US stocks are lower this morning. The Nasdaq is headed toward a fourth consecutive losing week and the Dow and S&P 500 to a third straight week of losses. (CNBC)

Nordstrom shares are down 17% in early trading. The upscale department-store chain says its profits fell by 64% in the first quarter to $46 million. Sales came in at $3.2 billion, up 2.5% from a year ago. (USA Today)

Wal-Mart is taking another step in competing with Amazon. The world's largest retailer is moving its free-shipping pilot program to two days from a three.  They are also cutting the membership price to $49 per year. Wal-Mart's program is named ShippingPass, allows users to purchase more than one million items at Walmart.com. For now, it is only a pilot. (AP)

U.S. import prices rose in April for a second straight month led by petroleum products. Import prices increased 0.3%. But the prices for imported goods declined 5.7% percent in the last 12 months. Imported petroleum prices increased 4.1% and imported food prices jumped 1.3%. (Reuters)

Join us this weekend for Financial Focus Radio when we will tell you why you should not be spooked by election season.

MSCI International Index is down 1%.

Oil is down 50 cents at $46.20 a barrel.

Gold is up $5 at $1277 a Troy ounce.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Retailers are Struggling

Macy's reported a 7.4% decline in first-quarter sales, the fifth straight quarter of decline, as customers cut back on buying apparel and the strong dollar discouraged tourists from buying.  The CEO says he sees continued weakness in consumer spending. Macy's shares are down more than 10% in 2016 and are more than 52% lower in the past 12 months. (Bloomberg)
 
Kohl's first-quarter results missed estimates as profits fell and sales were down almost 4% from a year earlier. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer's health, declined 3.9%. Kohl shares are down more than 6% in early trading. (AP)
 
Jack in the Box stock is up more than 10% in early trading as the fast-food operator reported profits climbing 26% from a year-ago. Sales were $361 million in the quarter essentially flat from a year ago. Better margins and cost controls were key reasons for the better-than-expected profits. (Market Watch)
 
This is a bright spot for a company working through tough economic times. Caterpillar says the heavy equipment maker is poised to move quickly into the Cuban market once the U.S. trade embargo is lifted. (Reuters)
 
MSCI International Index is flat.
 
Oil is up 59 cents at $46.82 a barrel.
 
Gold is down $6 at $1270 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Alaska Airlines joins S&P 500

Investors pulled $11.2 billion from U.S.-based stock funds in the past week, the largest seven-day outflow since January.  Exchange-traded funds were responsible for 91% of the stock fund outflows. (Reuters)

April saw the most gun-related background checks of any April on record, making it the 12th month in a row to achieve a high water mark for gun sales. The FBI ran 2,145,865 checks last month. That is a 400,000 increase over the previous record set in April 2014.  The trend of record-setting months began last May. The number of background checks is considered a reliable barometer for gun sales as nearly all sales are made through licensed firearms dealers. (Washington Free Beacon)

Alaska Airlines will join the S&P 500 at the start of Friday morning trading. The carrier replaces SanDisk, which is being acquired by Western Digital. (CNBC)

Staples has called off its $6.3 billion buyout of Office Depot, after a federal judge granted the federal government’s request for a preliminary injunction on antitrust grounds. Staples will pay Office Depot a $250 million deal breakup fee. (Reuters)

MSCI International Index is flat.

Oil is up 19 cents at $44.85 a barrel.

Gold is up $14 at $1279 a Troy ounce.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Oil is in The News

Stocks are higher this morning, after two straight weeks of losses for the Dow and S&P 500 and three down weeks in a row for the Nasdaq. (CNBC)

Tyson Foods the biggest U.S. meat processor with brands like Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm and Ball Park, reported a 39% rise in quarterly profits on lower feed and livestock costs. Sales fell 8%. (Reuters)

Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway posted a first-quarter profit of $5.59 billion. The conglomerate had sales of $52.4 billion in the period. Berkshire shares are up about 10% in 2016. (AP)

S&P 500 is up 3 and the NASDAQ is up 13.  MSCI International Index is down 0.40%.

Oil is up 11 cents at $44.72 a barrel. Oil is higher following the replacement of Saudi Arabia's energy minister and the huge wildfire in Canada that has knocked out over a million barrels in daily production capacity. (Reuters)

Gold is down $20 at $1275 a Troy ounce. Gold snapped four days of losses on Friday after the weaker than expected jobs report. (CNBC)

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

A Second Down Morning

Cascade Natural Gas has filed for a natural gas rate increase. It would increase residential customers’ monthly bill by an average of $2.07 a month. That is a 2.76% overall increase. The proposed increase for each rate class would be; residential 4.1%, commercial no increase, industrial 9.2% and transportation 6.8%.  Cascade Natural Gas is a subsidiary of MDU Resources also the owners of Knife River Construction. (Bend Bulletin)
 
Total mortgage applications fell 3.4% this week. Total applications are 14% higher than one year ago. Refinance apps fell 6% for the week, but are 15% higher than one year ago. Applications to purchase a home were flat for the week but 13% higher than a year ago. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate is 3.87%. (Mortgage Bankers Association)
 
Anheuser-Busch InBev, owners of Bends 10 Barrel Brewing, saw profits decline to $844 million for the quarter, down from $2.3 billion a year ago.  Lower profits were mostly due to weak sales in Brazil. (CNBC)
 
Royal Dutch Shell first-quarter profits plunged 58%. Sales fell 89%.  Shell forecast capital investments 36% less than 2014 levels. (AP)
 
MSCI International Index is down 0.84%.
 
Oil is up 31 cents at $43.98 a barrel.
 
Gold is down $10 at $1282 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Gold at 15 Month High

We start a new trading month today.  In April the Dow and S&P 500 were able to eke out fractional gains. The Nasdaq was down almost 2% mostly due to Apple weakness on the back of disappointing earnings. (CNBC)

Puerto Rico will miss a $389 million bond payment due today.  Knowing what bonds you own is important. Many tax-free bond funds hold lots of Puerto Rican bonds. (CNBC)

Restaurant supply company Sysco reported quarterly profits of $217.1 million. Results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The food distributor had sales of $12 billion. Sysco shares are up 12% since the beginning of the year. (AP)

Starbucks is dealing with another lawsuit alleging they short customers on the coffee they buy. An Illinois woman is suing for $5 million about the amount of ice the coffee behemoth uses in its drinks. She claims customers often end up with half of the amount of drink that's listed on menus in fluid ounces. (NBC News)

MSCI International Index is up 0.89%.

Oil is flat at $45.90 a barrel. U.S. crude soared nearly 20% in the month of April. (CNBC)

Gold is up $15 at $1305 a Troy ounce. Gold is trading a 15-month peak this morning. (CNBC)

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Archives:

2024-03 | 2024-02 | 2024-01 | 2023-12 | 2023-11 | 2023-10 | 2023-09 | 2023-08 | 2023-07 | 2023-06 | 2023-05 | 2023-04 | 2023-03 | 2023-02 | 2023-01 | 2022-12 | 2022-11 | 2022-10 | 2022-09 | 2022-08 | 2022-07 | 2022-06 | 2022-05 | 2022-04 | 2022-03 | 2022-02 | 2022-01 | 2021-12 | 2021-11 | 2021-10 | 2021-09 | 2021-08 | 2021-07 | 2021-06 | 2021-05 | 2021-04 | 2021-03 | 2021-02 | 2021-01 | 2020-12 | 2020-11 | 2020-10 | 2020-09 | 2020-08 | 2020-07 | 2020-06 | 2020-05 | 2020-04 | 2020-03 | 2020-02 | 2020-01 | 2019-12 | 2019-11 | 2019-10 | 2019-09 | 2019-08 | 2019-07 | 2019-06 | 2019-05 | 2019-04 | 2019-03 | 2019-02 | 2019-01 | 2018-12 | 2018-11 | 2018-10 | 2018-09 | 2018-08 | 2018-07 | 2018-06 | 2018-05 | 2018-04 | 2018-03 | 2018-02 | 2018-01 | 2017-12 | 2017-11 | 2017-10 | 2017-09 | 2017-08 | 2017-07 | 2017-06 | 2017-05 | 2017-04 | 2017-03 | 2017-02 | 2017-01 | 2016-12 | 2016-11 | 2016-10 | 2016-09 | 2016-08 | 2016-07 | 2016-06 | 2016-05 | 2016-04 | 2016-03 | 2016-02 | 2016-01 | 2015-12 | 2015-11 | 2015-10 | 2015-09 | 2015-08 | 2015-07 | 2015-06 | 2015-05 | 2015-04 | 2015-03 | 2015-02 | 2015-01 | 2014-12 | 2014-11 | 2014-10 | 2014-09 | 2014-08 | 2014-07 | 2014-06 | 2014-05 | 2014-04 | 2014-03 | 2014-02 | 2014-01 | 2013-12 | 2013-11 | 2013-10 | 2013-09 | 2013-05 | 2013-04

On Air Now

George Noorey
George Noorey
10:00pm - 12:00am
Coast to Coast

FlashAlert

KBND ON FACEBOOK

News Disclaimers