Business News Archives for 2016-04

Oil and Amazon Rule!

Today is the last trading session of the month. The Dow and S&P 500 are up about 1% in April. The Nasdaq is down 1.3% for the month. (CNBC)
 
Exxon Mobil posted first-quarter profits of $1.81 billion. Results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The company posted sales of $48.71 billion. Exxon shares are up 13% in 2016.
 
Amazon stock prices are jumping about 12%, after the e-commerce giant hit it out of the park on first-quarter earnings and revenue. Sales came in at $29.1 billion, up 28% from last year. Their cloud-computing business, Amazon Web Services, accounted for 56% of the company's profit this quarter.   (CNBC)
 
Caterpillar is closing five plants and 820 jobs, as the heavy equipment giant react to declining demand. (MarketWatch)
 
Join Tyler and I this weekend for Financial Focus Radio when we will talk about your health insurance with Don Klippenes of Health Insurance Strategies.
 
MSCI International Index is down 0.02%.
 
Oil is up 53 cents at $45.56 a barrel. Oil is at 2016 highs. The slick stuff gained another 1.5% yesterday and is on track to climb about 20% in April. (Bloomberg)
 
Gold is up $12 at $1278 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Oil Hits New Highs for 2016

Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods, like microwave ovens, cars and dishwashers rose 0.8% in March. Manufacturing accounts for 12% of the U.S. economy. Deep spending cuts on capital outlays by the oil patch have hurt this sector of the economy. (Reuters)
 
As we know low oil does have a cost.  Standard and Poor's downgraded ExxonMobil's credit rating from AAA to AA+ on expectations of continuing low oil prices. That leaves only Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson with AAA ratings from S&P. (CNBC)
 
Intel will cut 784 jobs, or 4% of their Oregon workforce, at its facilities in Hillsboro and Aloha. Intel has 19,500 workers in Oregon. (Portland Business Journal)
 
Chipotle had its first quarterly loss in history, The chain reported a net loss of $26.4 million.  Same-same store sales plummeted almost 30% on those food safety concern issues they have been battling through. (CNBC)
          
AT&T lost television subscribers and signed up fewer-than-expected monthly wireless customers in the first quarter. Profits rose by over 16% to $3.80 billion.Total sales rose 24.4% to $40.53 billion. (Reuters)
 
S&P 500 is down 1 and the NASDAQ is down 40.  MSCI International Index is down 0.40%.
 
Oil is up 99 cents at $44.94 a barrel. These prices are new highs for the year. (Bloomberg)
 
Gold is up $5 at $1248 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

This Bull is No Record

Since March 9, 2009, the S&P 500 has gone more than 1,790 trading day without, a bear market, a decline of 20% percent or more, making it the second-longest bull market in history.  It trails on the 3,100 trading day streak from Dec. 4, 1987, to March 24, 2000 (CNBC)
 
New single-family home sales fell 1.5% in March to an annual rate of 511,000 units. The decline was concentrated in the West region down 23.6%. The West has seen a sharp increase in home prices amid tight inventories. New housing inventory is less than half of what it was at the height of housing bubble. (Commerce Department)
 
The maker of Post-it notes, tape and medical supplies, 3M, reported a 2.2% fall in first quarter sales mostly due to slow growth in emerging markets and China.  The strong dollar was also a head wind. Profits rose to $1.28 billion, up almost 7%. (Reuters)
 
Procter & Gamble, maker of Head and Shoulders Shampoo and Crest Toothpaste, reported sales declined for the seventh quarter in a row.  But the company did cut its cost of goods sold by 11% and was able to raise prices by an average of 1%. Profits fell 7%, mostly due to the strong dollar. (Reuters)  
 
S&P 500 is up 6 and the NASDAQ is up 12.  MSCI International Index is flat.
 
Oil is up 54 cents at $43.18 a barrel.
 
Gold is down $6 at $1235 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Oil and Gas Prices Up

U.S. stocks have been to the upside in three of the past four weeks.  But are near the flat line this morning as we have another big week of earnings. More than 170 S&P 500 companies release quarterly results this week. (CNBC)

Costco is raising prices.  At least to be a member.
An analyst predicts Costco may be planning to increase membership prices next year. It is anticipated the company will increase the annual fee for its Gold Star Membership to $60 from $55, and raise its Executive Membership price to $120 from $110. Historically Costco has increased membership fees every five to six years. The last increase was in November 2011. Costco membership increased 6% in 2015 to more than 81 million memberships. (CNNMoney)

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores is coming to Oregon. It will open three restaurants in the Portland. All three locations will open in 2017. The three Portland restaurants will be the first on the West Coast. The closest location is currently in Boise. (OregonLive)

S&P 500 is down 6 and the NASDAQ is down 41.  MSCI International Index is flat.

Oil is down 41 cents at $43.32 a barrel. Black gold was up more than 8% last week, the third straight week of gains. Gas prices have risen by 8 cents over the past three weeks to $2.18 per gallon. (Reuters)

Gold is up $6 at $1236 a Troy ounce.

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

Another Health Insurance Provider Bites the Dust

As we look into the future the Leading Economic Index rose 0.2% in March to 123.4. That is the first increase in three months. The index is a barometer of economic health 6-12 months in the future. (CNBC)

U.S. regulators will require the nation's large banks to hold back executives' bonus pay for four years. It will also require a seven year "claw back" period if past executive action hurt the business. (NASDAQ)

LifeWise Health Plans has decided to exit the state of Oregon and stop offering health insurance policies. LifeWise Oregon will support existing customers through 2016. The decision impacts all their health insurance products. (Press Release)

Caterpillar reported quarterly profits of $271 million. The heavy equipment company posted sales of $9.46 billion. Caterpillar expects full-year earnings to be $3.70 per share, with revenue in the range of $40 billion to $42 billion. All those numbers met expectations. Caterpillar stock is up 16% this year. (AP)       

Join us this weekend for Financial Focus Radio when Tyler and I spread the Good News of wealth building.

S&P 500 is down 1 and the NASDAQ is down 40.  MSCI International Index is up 0.07%.

Oil is up 25 cents at $43.42 a barrel.

Gold is down $3 at $1248 a Troy ounce.

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

Shortage of Homes For Sale

I will have to learn some new people on our currency, but till 2020.  The Treasury Department announced it will keep Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill and replace President Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20. There will also be some changes to the $5 bill that will now depict civil rights era leaders. (Politico)

The National Association of Realtors says existing home sales climbed 5.1% to an annual rate of 5.33 million units in March. Sales remain constrained by a shortage of homes available for sale. At March's sales pace, it would take 4.5 months to clear the stock of houses on the market. A six-month supply is viewed as a healthy. The median house price increased 5.7% percent from a year ago.

Mattel reported a loss of $73 million in the first quarter. The toy maker had sales of $869.4 billion. The strong dollar, which reduces the value of sales generated outside the U.S., weighed on Mattel’s results. Mattel is trying to overcome the loss of licenses for Walt Disney Princess and Frozen products to rival Hasbro in 2016. Mattel shares are up 22% in 2016. (AP)

MSCI International Index is down 0.20%.

Oil is up 5 cents at $44.25 a barrel.

Gold is up $4 at $1265 a Troy ounce.

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

Strong Dollar Impacts Profits

The rally continues as the Dow and S&P 500 closed yesterday at highs for the year.

U.S. housing starts hit a one-year low in March. New starts decreased 8.8% to an annual pace of 1.09 million units. Single-family starts fell in all four US geographic regions last month. Starts for multi-family units declined 7.9%. New building permits dropped 7.7%, the lowest level since March last year. Permits for single-family homes decreased 1.2% in March. Multi-family building permits crashed 18.6%. (CNBC)

Cabela's stock gained 6.36% yesterday on reports Bass Pro Shop and Goldman Sachs were teaming up to buy the firm.  (Reuters).

Coca-Cola's first-quarter sales fell 4% to $10.28 billion mostly due to the impacts of the strong dollar. The world's largest beverage maker had a profit of $1.48 billion down over 5% from last year. (AP)

Oregons largest employer, Intel, will cut up to 12,000 jobs globally, or 11% percent of its workforce, as it refocuses its business towards making microchips that power data centers and mobile devices and away from the declining personal computer. Sales of products for the data centers accounted for 40% of revenue and operating profit. Intel profits climbed over 7% to $13.70 billion. (Reuters)

MSCI International Index is flat.

Oil is down 75 cents at $40.29 a barrel.

Gold is down $4 at $1250 a Troy ounce.

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

Homebuilder confidence still strong

The Dow posted its first close above 18,000 since July 20th last year and the best level of 2016 yesterday.
 
U.S. home builders' confidence held steady in April at 58. It has not changed in three months. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good, rather than poor. The index had been in the low 60s for eight months until February. (National Association of Home Builders)
 
Sales and profits are falling at more of America's biggest companies. Those reporting stronger sales dropped to the lowest level in seven years. This according to the National Association for Business Economics.  
 
IBM reported first-quarter revenue that was the worst in 14 years.  Revenue fell 4.6% to $18.68 billion. IBM also posted its 16th straight quarter of revenue decline. (Reuters)
 
Johnson & Johnson, the maker of Band-Aids and Tylenol, reported quarterly profits of $4.29 billion essentially flat year-over-year. Sales rose 0.6% to $17.48 billion. The company's pharmaceutical unit accounted for 45% of its sales last year.
 
Oil is down 43 cents at $40.21 a barrel.
 
Gold is up $14 at $1248 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.

Consumer Confidence Slides

It’s tax day.  Don’t forget!!!
 
March U.S. industrial production fell 0.6%, more than expected.  Industrial production fell at an annual rate of 2.2% in the first quarter. The industrial sector has been undermined by a slowing global economy, a stronger dollar, and lower oil prices which have eroded demand for U.S. manufactured goods. (Reuters)
 
The Index of Consumer sentiment was 89.7 in April. Lower than expected.  It was the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Consumers reported a slowdown in expected wage gains, weakening inflation-adjusted income expectations, and growing concerns that slowing economic growth would reduce the pace of job creation. (CNBC)
 
PepsiCo makers of Pepsi colas, Gatorade and Tropicana fruit juices reported quarterly profits declined nearly 24% to $931 million mostly due to charges associated with foreign investments. The company cut costs and demand rose in North America for its snacks, including Cheetos and Lay's chips. Sales in the North America snacks business, accounts for more than a quarter of its total revenue. Pepsi’s total sales fell 3% to $11.86 billion, the sixth straight quarter of decline. (Reuters)
 
Oil is down $1.67 at $38.69 a barrel.
 
Gold is up $5 at $1239 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Inflation Still Tame

If you want a job you can find one. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, to levels last seen in 1973.  The four-week moving average of claims, fell to 265,000 last week. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of being unemployed declined to 2.17 million, the lowest level since mid-November 2000. (Reuters)

U.S. core consumer prices, which strips out food and energy costs, rose 0.1% last month. That was smallest increase since August. In the 12 months through March, the core CPI rose 2.2%. (Reuters)

Dick's Sporting Goods is a bidder for some of Sports Authority's assets being sold at a bankruptcy auction. Sports Authority's has 7 stores in Oregon, 6 on the Westside of the mountains and one in K-Falls. Dicks has 15 Oregon stores including the one in Bend. (Reuters)

Citigroup reported quarterly first-quarter profits that were down over 17%. Revenue was down about 12%.
Citigroup plans to cut costs by dismissing 70 traders and cutting 200 jobs in operations and technology. (Business Wire)

Join us the weekend for Financial Focus Radio when we will tackle the topic of how to prepare for the coming market downturn.

Oil is down 97 cents at $40.53 a barrel.

Gold is up $5 at $1231 a Troy ounce.

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

More Big Banks Report

U.S. retail sales fell in 0.3% March as households cut back on purchases of automobiles. Retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services ticked up 0.1%. (Department of Commerce)

U.S. producer prices fell 0.1% in March as rising energy prices were offset by a decline in the cost of services. This number suggests overall inflation will remain tame for a while. In March energy prices were up 1.8%. Gas alone surged 7.1%. Wholesale food prices fell 0.9%. (Reuters)

Bank of America's first-quarter profits fell over 18% from last year to $2.22 billion.  The big drag was their global trading unit. The banks revenue in the quarter was down 6.6% to $19.51 billion. (AP)

Wells Fargo posted a 7% drop in quarterly profit to $5.09 billion.  The nation’s third-largest U.S. bank set aside $1.09 billion to cover bad loans mostly in the energy sector. (Reuters)   

Oil is down 17 cents at $41.93 a barrel.

Gold is down $10 at $1238 a Troy ounce.

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

Big Banks Start Reporting

JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank by assets, posted first quarter profits that fell 6.7% to $5.5 billion. Revenue dropped 3% to $24.1 billion. Sluggish action in its investment banking and asset management businesses attributed to the revenue decline. The bank raised their loan loss reserves for the first time in years in response to souring loans to troubled oil and gas companies. Community banking, its largest business unit, reported a 4% revenue increase. (USA Today)

Rail carrier CSX had first-quarter profit of $356 million. That was on revenue of $2.62 billion. The results missed expectations. (AP)

About 40,000 Verizon landline workers went on strike saying there has not been much progress in negotiations for a new contract. The old contract expired almost eight months ago. (CNBC)

The federal government program to kill the coal industry is working. Peabody Energy has filed for bankruptcy protection, in the wake of a sharp fall in coal prices. (Reuters)

Wal-Mart has expanded its free curbside grocery pickup service to eight new cities this month.  That brings the total to 30 cities and about 200 stores. Wal-Mart plans future expansion. (CNBC)

Oil is down 58 cents at $41.59 a barrel. U.S. oil closed at 2016 highs yesterday. (Reuters)

Gold is down $17 at $1244 a Troy ounce.

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

Small Business Owners Worry

It was the unofficial kickoff of earnings season and Alcoa beat on profit expectations but missed estimates on sales. The metals giant says they will eliminate up to 2,000 jobs. (CNBC)
While rates may be low, mortgage credit availability actually tightened in March. The tightening came largely in conventional loans, while government programs such as FHA and VA lending relaxed slightly. (Mortgage Bankers Association)
 
Puerto Rico released a new debt restructuring proposal offering general obligation holders about 74 cents on the dollar. The plan would reduce $49 billion of the island's debt to between $32 billion and $37 billion.  (Reuters)
 
Small business confidence fell to a two-year low in March as owners worry about sales and profits. The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index dipped to 92.6.  It has declined from a reading of 100 in December 2014 and is off its 42-year average of 98. (Reuters)
 
Oil is up 25 cents at $40.59 a barrel.
 
Gold is up $3 at $1261 a Troy ounce.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.
 

Wholesale Inventories Fall

Earnings season officially kicks off today. Alcoa, often viewed as the start of earnings season, is out with its quarterly numbers after the closing bell this afternoon.  

U.S. wholesale inventories fell at their fastest pace in nearly three years in February, pointing to a sharper slowdown in first-quarter economic growth. Wholesale inventories dropped 0.5%, the sharpest decline since May 2013. (Commerce Department)

The Daily Mail is in talks with private equity firms about a possible bid for Yahoo. The U.K. conglomerate is one of 40 companies kicking the tires to buy the long struggling Internet firm. (WSJ)

As it continues to divest its financial holdings General Electric is planning an IPO for its Czech banking business. GE would retain a significant minority stake in the unit. (Financial Times)

As it pushes to expand into China McDonald's has put its Korean unit up for sale. The fast food giant also put its Japanese unit up for sale last year. (CNBC)

S&P 500 is up 7 and the NASDAQ is up 17.  MSCI International Index is up 0.04%.

Oil is down 19 cents at $39.53 a barrel. U.S. crude surged nearly 8% last week. Gasoline prices gained 8 cents to $2.10 per gallon in the past three weeks (Lundberg survey).

Gold is up $6 at $1250 a Troy ounce.

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

A Shareholder Rebellion

Gap announced March results that show a continued sales slide. It was the 12th consecutive monthly decline in sales. Gap also warned that it was entering April with higher levels of inventory, which will hurt profit margins. The retailer says sales at stores open a year or more fell 6% for all three key brands— Banana Republic, Old Navy and Gap. (AP)  

Macy’s did it right and BP did not. Now they are paying the price.  BP CEO Bob Dudley is facing a shareholder rebellion against his 20% percent pay raise when the oil giant reported its worst annual loss ever. (CNBC)

Who would have ever thought this would happen?  The government is lowering the amount of money it takes out of your pocket. The price of a U.S. stamp goes down 2 cents this weekend. A temporary rate increase granted to the Postal Service in 2014 is ending. (WSJ)

Join us this weekend for Financial Focus Radio, the truth in wealth building when we will tell you how those without the proper licenses and education are claiming they are financial advisors.

Oil is up $1.45 at $38.71 a barrel.

Gold is down $1 at $1236 a Troy ounce.

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

Off to the Races on Earnings Season

Yesterday’s big rally saw the Nasdaq post its highest close of 2016. The Nasdaq is on track to post its seventh weekly gain in eight weeks; the Dow and S&P 500 are still modestly negative for the week. (CNBC)
          
Costco reported net sales of $10.71 billion for the month of March, an increase of 3% from last year. Comparable sales for March 2016 over March 2015 were US up 1%, Canada up 3% and International down 1%. If you back out impacts from
gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange same store sales were better. The US was up 3%, Canada up 9% and International up 4%. Costco operates 702 warehouses, including 492 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 90 in Canada, 36 in Mexico, 27 in the United Kingdom, 24 in Japan, 12 in Korea, 11 in Taiwan, 8 in Australia and 2 in Spain. (Marketwired)

Bed Bath & Beyond reported a quarterly profit of $303.5 million. Results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The home goods retailer had sales of $3.42 billion in the quarter. Bed Bath & Beyond shares are up 1% since the beginning of the year and is down 37% in the last 12 months. (AP)

Oil is down 20 cents at $37.56 a barrel.

Gold is up $14 at $1238 a Troy ounce.

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

Another Good Jobs Report

This is no April Fool’s prank.  US stocks bounced back from a terrible January and early February to finish the first quarter flat for 2016. Proving once again that calls the world was ending was the real April Fool’s joke. (Fox Business News)

The economy added a healthy 215,000 jobs in March, 195,000 of those in the private sector. Average hourly wages were up by 0.3%. The jobless rate ticked up to 5.0% (Fox Business News)

The U.S. dollar fell to its lowest level in five months against the euro in the first quarter. The dollar index posted its worst quarterly performance in five years. This will help with corporate earnings when we get reports later this month. (CNBC)

McDonald's plans to open 1,500 new restaurants in China, South Korea, and Hong Kong as the fast food giant looks to faster-growing markets to help drive its global turnaround. (AP)

Chipotle Mexican Grill has filed a trademark application for "Better Burger." The chain is considering opening a burger chain as a growth driver. (CNBC)

Join Tyler and I this weekend for Financial Focus Radio, the truth in wealth building, when we will give you insight into new federal government regulations that will impact your IRA.

Oil is down $1 at $37.42 a barrel.

Gold is down $2 at $1234 a Troy ounce.

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

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