Author Archive

• FactSet Reaches New High
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 5th, 2021 at 1:39 pm

  The stock market is improving today. Yesterday, the S&P 500 closed at its lowest level in two months. It looks like we’ll have another 1% day but this time to the upside.

  Thanks to Facebook (FB) tanking yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg lost more than $6 billion yesterday. He’s made back about $2 billion today.

  On our Buy List, shares of FactSet (FDS) just touched a new 52-week high. I was not expecting the stock to respond so strongly to its earnings report from last week.

  Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is having a good day for us. The stock is up about 3%. It’s not far from a new 52-week high.

  On the economic front, the ISM Services Index rose to 61.9. That’s quite good. The trade deficit increased to $73 billion.

• Morning News: October 5, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 5th, 2021 at 7:04 am

  The End of a ‘Gilded Age’: China Is Bringing Business to Heel

  New U.S. China Trade Plan Leaves Industry Hungry for Specifics

  John Authers: Stagflation Fear Is Having a British Renaissance

  Energy Prices Spike as Producers Worry Over Pandemic and Climate

  OPEC Opts Against Big Output Boost, Pushing Oil Prices to Seven-Year High

  Global Energy Crisis Shows Fragility of Clean-Power Era

  The Fed’s Great Dissenter

  Facebook Is Weaker Than We Knew

  Here’s What Facebook Says Triggered the Massive Outage on Its Apps

  Amazon is Starting Black Friday Deals Early. Like, Now

  PepsiCo Raises Annual Revenue Forecast as Soda Demand Jumps

  Ouster Will Buy Sense Photonics, Drive for More Automotive Deals

  Hollywood Crew Union Votes to Authorize Strike Against Studios

  Tesla Ordered to Pay $137 Million Over Racism in Rare Verdict

  Law Firm at Center of Pandora Helped Global Rich Hide Billions

  The Pope’s Corruption Problems

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• Facebook Leads the Market Lower
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 4th, 2021 at 2:14 pm

  The stock market is having another rough day today. The S&P 500 is currently down over 1.5%. Tech stocks are suffering the most. The NASDAQ is currently off by more than 2.3%. Facebook, in particular, has been hit hard. The shares are currently down over 5%.

  A Facebook whistle blower was featured on last night’s 60 Minutes.

  The identity of the Facebook whistleblower who released tens of thousands of pages of internal research and documents — leading to a firestorm for the social media company in recent weeks — was revealed on “60 Minutes” Sunday night as Frances Haugen.

  The 37-year-old former Facebook product manager who worked on civic integrity issues at the company says the documents show that Facebook knows its platforms are used to spread hate, violence and misinformation, and that the company has tried to hide that evidence.

  “The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook, and Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money,” Haugen told “60 Minutes.”

• Morning News: October 4, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 4th, 2021 at 7:04 am

  Why Brexit Britain Is Isolated, Vulnerable and Running on Fumes

  U.S. Signals Little Thaw in Trade Relations With China

  China Steps Up Efforts to Ring-Fence Evergrande, Not Save It

  The Stock Market’s Hot Summer Became a Swoon. Where Does It Go Next?

  Soaring Wealth Inequality Sets The Stage For Soaring Opportunity

  Doomsday Clock for U.S. Debt Ticks, With No Congressional Plan

  Diverse Boards to Pick the Next Boston and Dallas Fed Bank Chiefs

  Behind the Crypto Broker Accused of Enabling Ransomware Hackers

  Here Are the Biggest Revelations From the Pandora Papers Leak

  Whistle-Blower Says Facebook ‘Chooses Profits Over Safety’

  ‘The Beginning of the Snowball’: Supply-Chain Snarls Reach Publishing

  Volvo Cars Is Completing Plans for IPO in Stockholm

  What They Saw in Ozy

  World Bank, IMF Face Long-Term Damage After Data Rigging Scandal

  Pharmacy Chains Face First Trial Over U.S. Opioid Epidemic

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• Highest PCE Core Inflation in 30 Years
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 1st, 2021 at 12:54 pm

  Now that it’s the first business day of the month, the ISM Manufacturing report came out. The reading for September was 61.1 which is very good. That’s up from 59.9 in August. Economists had been expecting 59.6. This means that the factory sector of the economy is still moving along.

  After the GDP report, we always get the personal income and spending reports. For August, spending rose by 0.8% and income was up 0.2%. That’s not bad.

  With the income and spending reports, we also get the inflation reports. This is different from the CPI report. Some economists, most prominently at the Fed, think this is a better measure of inflation.

  For the 12 months ending in August, the PCE price index rose by 4.3%. The core PCE price index rose by 3.6%. The latter is the largest jump in more than 30 years.

  The stock market is up so far today. The Dow is outpacing the S&P 500 thanks to Merck. The drug company said its new Covid pill reduces the risk of hospitalization by half for some patients. Merck is up 9% today.

• Morning News: October 1, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 1st, 2021 at 7:03 am

  Stock, Bond and Real Estate Prices Are All Uncomfortably High

  ‘Perfect Storm’ Lifts Dollar Over Unsettled Markets

  Factories Struggling as Supply Constraints Hit, Costs Rise

  Silicon’s 300% Surge Throws Another Price Shock at the World

  Consumer Bureau Chief Confirmed in Close Senate Vote

  Bond Investors Brace for Worst Year in Decades

  Only 35% Pass Wall St.’s Toughest Test. How Much Does That Matter?

  Zoom’s Stock Drop Likely Nixed Five9 Deal

  SoftBank-Backed Oyo Files to Raise $1.1 Billion in IPO

  Airlines Are Ripping Out Business Seats to Create a New Middle Class

  How Covid Is Transforming the $380 Billion Luxury Fashion Industry

  China’s Box Office Becomes a Giant Headache for Hollywood

  Would Ticket Holders Pay $25 if They Got Unlimited Food? One Movie Theater Decided to Find Out

  Merck CEO Sees ‘Multibillion-Dollar’ Opportunity With Acceleron

  Youth Vaping Declined Sharply for Second Year, New Data Show

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• Tracking Our Lowest Close in Two Months
  Eddy Elfenbein, September 30th, 2021 at 12:56 pm

  

  The stock market is down again today. The S&P 500 isn’t far from the intra-day lows from the Monday before last. The index is on pace for its lowest close in two months.

  As I write this, the S&P 500 is at 4,321 which is well below its 50-day moving average of 4,463 but still above its 200-day moving average of 4,134.

  September is living up to its reputation as the worst month for stocks. This September will be the S&P 500’s worst since…well, last September.

  There were two important economic reports this morning. The first is that Q2 GDP growth was revised upward to 6.7%. I think we all know that Q3 won’t be so good.

  The other report is that jobless claims increased to 362,000. I tend to not place a great deal of emphasis on the weekly jobless claims reports because the number tends to bounce around a lot. I do place a lot of emphasis on the trend in jobless claims. That’s also why economists tend to look at the four-week moving average.

  Having said that, this was the third weekly increase in a row. This generally lines up with weaker economic data.

  

• Morning News: September 30, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, September 30th, 2021 at 12:40 pm

  China Tech Stocks Fall as State Media Fans Clampdown Concerns

  Why China Is Facing a Power Crunch and What It Means

  Biden’s Energy Price Shock

  U.S. Fed Navigates Policy Minefield with Impending Digital Dollar Report

  The Pandemic Made the Finance Industry’s Toughest Test Tougher

  Growth Funds Among Q3 Winners for U.S. Investors as COVID Worries Grew

  Wall Street Titans Warn of the Next Big Risks for Investors

  How Global Supply Chains Are Falling Out of Fashion

  Developers Are Making Games for a Nintendo 4K Console That Doesn’t Exist

  At Ozy Media, a Star Journalist Quits, and a Key Investor Backs Away

  Merck to Buy Acceleron for About $11.5 Billion in Rare Disease Drugs Push

  Macy’s Sues to Block Amazon from Taking Over the Billboard at its Herald Square Flagship

  Dollar Tree to Sell More Items Above $1 as Costs Rise

  Navient Will No Longer Service Federal Student Loans. What That Means for Borrowers

  Meet Ramzi Musallam, Wall Street’s Top-Secret Billionaire Investor

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• Sherwin-Williams Lowers Guidance
  Eddy Elfenbein, September 29th, 2021 at 12:59 pm

  This morning, Sherwin-Williams (SHW) said that it’s lowering its sales and earnings estimates for Q3 and the full year.

  For net sales, Sherwin sees Q3 coming in flat to down slightly. For earnings, the company expects earnings to range between $1.80 and $1.90 per share, including 20 cents for acquisition costs.

  For all of 2021, Sherwin expects sales to be “up by a high single digit percentage.” Sherwin sees 2021 earnings between $7.21 to $7.41 per share. That figure includes “$0.80 per share for acquisition-related amortization expense and a loss of $0.34 per share on the Wattyl divestiture.”

  CEO John G. Morikis:

  “As demand remains robust across our pro architectural and industrial end markets, we continue to make investments in our strategic growth initiatives, including bringing 50 million gallons of additional architectural production capacity online over the next two quarters,” said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, John G. Morikis. “At the same time, the persistent and industry-wide raw material availability constraints and pricing inflation we have previously reported have worsened, and we do not expect to see improved supply or lower raw material pricing in our fourth quarter as anticipated. As a result of these headwinds, we are narrowing our third quarter sales expectations and establishing third quarter earnings guidance. For the full year, we now expect sales to be up by a high single digit percentage and adjusted diluted net income per share guidance to be $8.45 at the midpoint of the range.

  “Our suppliers are now reporting that the impacts of Hurricane Ida are more severe and will be longer lasting than initially thought. Production of several key resins, additives and solvents, expected to resume by late September, has been pushed out. We now expect raw material availability issues to negatively impact our consolidated sales by a high-single digit percentage in the fourth quarter. This follows the high-single digit impact in the third quarter we previously communicated.”

  Shares of SHW initially gapped down but are now higher.

  

• Morning News: September 29, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, September 29th, 2021 at 7:05 am

  World Food Costs at Risk of Soaring as China Faces Tough Harvest

  EU Backs U.S. Tech Trade Declaration After French Concerns

  Retailers’ Latest Headache: Shutdowns at Their Vietnamese Suppliers

  Yellen Warns of ‘Catastrophic’ Consequences From Debt Limit Breach

  Warren Says She Will Vote Against Second Term for Fed’s Powell

  New U.S. SEC Rules to Call on Hedge Funds, Endowments to Disclose Votes

  The U.S. Steel Sector Would Be Booming Even Without Trump’s Tariffs

  ‘Most Americans Today Believe the Stock Market Is Rigged, and They’re Right’

  A Hawkish Turn Is the Signal in This Selloff Noise

  Fund Managers Start Axing ESG Buzzword as Greenwash Rules Bite

  How an 11-Foot-Tall 3-D Printer Is Helping to Create a Community

  Evergrande to Raise $1.5 Billion by Selling Bank Stake to State-Owned Firm

  Mail Delivery Is About To Get Permanently Slower And Pricier For The Holidays

  AstraZeneca Buys Rare Disease Drugmaker Caelum in Potential $500 Million Deal

  Selling Homes Privately, via ‘Pocket Listings,’ Is on the Upswing

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