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Ugh. Today’s not looking so good. Thanks to the moonbats running Iran, oil broke $70 a barrel again, bringing it close to a new all-time record. The energy stocks are soaring, while the health care and consumer stocks continue to be left behind. Expeditors (EXPD) is also lower on an analyst downgrade.

First, it was the 30-year bond that broke 5%, then the 10-year. Now, the five-year note is closing in on 5%. We’re up to 4.95%.

Wanna see the impact of a flat yield curve? Citigroup (C) reported good earnings today. For the first three months of this year, the company made $1.11 a share (from continuing ops), nine cents more that estimates. Yet the stock is trading at 11 times this years’ earnings. Plus, the dividend yield is over 4%, which isn’t too far from long-term bond yields. Banks don’t make much money when the yield curve is so narrow.

Over the weekend, Barron’s had an article on Patterson (PDCO), the dental supply company. Danaher (DHR) recently announced that it’s moving into this sector by buying Sybron Dental (SYD). The Barron’s article is a paid link, but here’s an article from Reuters.

Posted by edelfenbein at April 17, 2006 11:54 AM