A day after the Dow Jones closed about 12,000, stocks traded in a narrow, virtually flat range. The pause in the rally provided time for some equity growth funds to breathe, many of which have realized returns greater than 3.5%, which is roughly what the S&P 500 has gained so far this year. Despite the [...]
The US Economy has begun the new year on something of a tear according to data out of the Commerce Department and the Institute for Supply Management. According to information posted at both websites, consumer spending rose 0.7% in December and the ISM showed that the business barometer increased to 68.8 (figures above 50 generally [...]
As a staple among energy shares held by equity mutual funds, ExxonMobil Corporation came through with spectacular results for its fourth quarter as well as 2010 as a whole. In a press release filed by the company, earnings excluding special items increased 57% for the year to $30.5 billion from $19.4 billion the year before. [...]
Shares of e-tailer Amazon.com sold off sharply in the after-market after the company announced its fourth quarter sales of $12.95 billion, a 36% increase over the previous year. Despite its strong numbers, the earnings fell short of analyst estimates of $12.98 billion. Despite missing the sales number, Amazon.com’s earnings per share figure of $0.91 beat [...]
Two American Funds Equity Funds To Piggyback on Microsoft Earnings The world’s largest PC Software, Microsoft, announced record second-quarter earnings despite a slowdown in computer sales for the month of December — see our earlier report on Durable Goods. According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft’s diluted earnings per share of $0.77 exceeded analyst targets [...]
The Commerce Department announced today that durable goods orders continued to climb, up in December after having climbed in November as well. While the overall trend is certainly promising, deeper investigation into the numbers reveals how some equity mutual funds will benefit and others may suffer. One of the key statistics reported by Bloomberg News [...]
One of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, ConocoPhillips announced earnings today, pushing its share price up by 2.09% or $1.41 to $68.89 at 11:01AM Tuesday. The company saw an increase to its adjusted earnings to the tune of 79.6%, an increase in earnings to $8.8 billion compared to adjusted earnings in 2009 of $4.9 [...]
Amidst its efforts to rebuild its reputation, Toyota Motors Corp. issued a recall on 1.7 million vehicles. This latest recall will most definitely irk Toyota President Akio Toyoda who underlined his company’s goal of repairing Toyota’s reputation as a safe and reliable auto maker at the Detroit Auto Show. This latest recall will most certainly [...]
Consumer confidence, one of the key measures of where the economy and, by default, markets are headed rose more than economists had forecast in January. While economists had forecast an increase from 53.3 in the prior month to 54, the confidence in fact rose to 60.6, well beyond those expectations. According to a report at [...]
The Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller housing price report released Tuesday shows that housing prices continued their downward trend in November from October. As an average of the 20 cities surveyed by S&P/Case-Shiller Index, prices were shown to have dropped by an additional 1% with 19 of the 20 cities showing declines. The only city showing a [...]
As the markets touch highs they have not enjoys in several years, the skeptics and optimists alike are keeping a watchful eye on how some of the most popular companies are reporting their earnings. On Tuesday, January 25, 2011, one such company that is expected to announce earnings is Johnson and Johnson, one of the [...]
McDonald’s reported early on Monday that its net revenues increased by 2% in its fourth-quarter. Revenues increased by 4%, matching the expectations of leading analysts, according to a report by the Associated Press. As a popular holding among the more conservative equity mutual funds on the market, the McDonald’s results tell a different story its [...]
Information posted on the FDIC website brings the total of bank failures for 2010 to seven. On Friday, January 21, 2010, the FDIC shuttered four additional financial institutions including the Bank of Asheville in Asheville, NC, United Western Bank in Denver, CO, CommunitySouth Bank and Trust in Easley, SC, and Enterprise Banking Company in McDonough, [...]
With the announcement of additional write-downs and Bank of America’s second straight quarterly loss, Bank of America leader, Brian T. Moynihan is facing a make or break year in 2011 as institutional investors turn up the heat and look for some serious stock price appreciation. Given the money that equity mutual funds have invested in [...]
In a report delivered to Congress on Friday, January 21, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a unified fiduciary standard be adopted by Financial Advisors and Broker-Dealers alike. The 208-page report takes an in-depth view of the retail investment industry and makes careful distinctions between the quality of care that retail investors receive [...]
