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  • Finance 0

    Wal-Mart Stores Makes All-Time Highs After Earnings Report

    Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) On Thursday, November 16th, 2017, Walmart stores reported their fiscal quarterly earnings before the market open for trading.  Walmart reported revenue of +$1.23 billion dollars which compares with +$1.21 billion dollars in the year-ago period. Earnings came in at $1 per share after adjustments, while analysts had been expecting $0.97 per share. However, it was in the U.S.-based internet and e-commerce area that saw the biggest and most lucrative increase which came in at +50%. WMT Charts The above price chart is the daily action going back about 6 months. Today’s candle in the far upper right corner shows...
    On November 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    October 2017 Residential Building Improves

    The headline residential building permits improved and construction completions improved. But we keep our eyes on the rolling averages because of the significant monthly fluctuations. Analyst Opinion of Residential Building The backward revisions this month were moderately upward.The nature of this industry normally has large variations from month to month (mostly due to weather) so the rolling averages are the best way to view this series – and it shows permits rate of growth improved, and completions rate of growth improved. We consider this a much stronger report than last month. Looking at residential construction employment, the ye...
    On November 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Wal-Mart ETFs To Buy On Blockbuster Q3 Results

    Wal-Mart (WMT – Free Report) reported blockbuster third-quarter fiscal 2018 results. The mega retailer continued its long streak of positive earnings surprise as it beat estimates for the ninth consecutive quarter. It also topped revenue estimates and offered an upbeat guidance for the holiday quarter and the fiscal year. Per Bespoke Investment Group, this is only the second time since 2001 when Wal-Mart came up with the combination of an earnings and revenue beat as well as an encouraging outlook. Q3 Results in Focus Earnings per share came in at $1.00, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents and improving from the year-ago e...
    On November 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    CPI In October 2017 And Gold

    On Wednesday, a report on U.S. consumer inflation was released. What does it imply for the gold market? As we predicted last month, the monthly rate of inflation slowed down in October after soaring in September due to disruptions caused by hurricanes. Consumer prices increased 0.1 percent. The move was driven mainly by higher housing costs (which jumped 0.3 percent). The core index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.2 percent. These changes were generally in line with expectations. On an annual basis, the overall CPI rose 2 percent, while the core CPI increased 1.8 percent, slightly better than in September and slightly better than...
    On November 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Ross Stores (ROST) Rallies On Solid Q3 Earnings, Raised View

    Ross Stores, Inc. ROST reported solid third-quarter fiscal 2017 results, wherein both the top and bottom lines topped estimates and improved year over year. Further, earnings came ahead of the company’s projection despite the tough year-over-year comparisons, volatile retail environment and the impact of two major hurricanes during the quarter. Driven by the continuation of trends witnessed in the third quarter, the company raised its sales view for the fiscal fourth quarter. Also, a sturdy year-to-date performance and robust fiscal fourth-quarter projections encouraged management to perk up its earnings view for fiscal 2017. Consequently...
    On November 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    RecessionAlert Weekly Leading Index Update – Friday, Nov. 17

    The latest index reading came in at 26.1, up from 25.1 the previous week. RecessionAlert has launched an alternative to ECRI’s Weekly Leading Index Growth indicator (WLIg). The Weekly Leading Economic Index (WLEI) uses fifty different time series from these categories: Corporate Bond Composite, Treasury Bond Composite, Stock Market Composite, Labor Market Composite, Credit Market Composite. RecessionAlert emphasizes that WLEI is a growth index and its data is no more than a week old, as is ECRI’s WLIg. Here is an excerpt from the description: Being a weekly growth index, it provides data with at most a 1-week lag, which is fa...
    On November 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Crude Oil – General Stock Market Link

    On Thursday, the overall situation in crude oil hasn’t changed much as the commodity wavered around the January peak. Will the relationship between black gold and the general market give us more clues about future moves? Crude Oil’s Technical Picture Let’s examine the technical picture of the commodity (charts courtesy of http://stockcharts.com). From today’s point of view, we see that yesterday session didn’t add anything new to the short-term picture of crude oil. As you see, the commodity re-tested once again the January high, but then rebounded slightly – similarly to what we saw a day earlier. The size of volume was disappoi...
    On November 17, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Rail Week Ending 11 November 2017: Continued Slowing Of Rolling Averages

    Week 45 of 2017 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) expanded according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. The economically intuitive sectors remain in expansion but growth rate continues to slow. Analyst Opinion of the Rail Data We review this data set to understand the economy. If coal and grain are removed from the analysis, this week it improved 0.6 % (meaning that the predicitive economic elements improved year-over-year). This week the one year rolling averages continue in expansion for the 24th week after contraction beginning in late 2015 – but generally decelerated this we...
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  • Finance 0

    The Biggest Wealth Transfer In History

    What will happen between now and 2025? Nobody knows of course but I will later in this article have a little peek into the next 4-8 years. The concentration of wealth in the world has now reached dangerous proportions. The three richest people in the world have a greater wealth than the bottom 50%. The top 1% have a wealth of $33 trillion whilst the bottom 1% have a debt $196 billion. The interesting point is not just that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. More interesting is to understand: How did we get there? and what will be the consequences? PANAMA & PARADISE PAPERS – SENSATIONALISM As the socialist dominated medi...
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  • Finance 0

    The Aramco Money Machine: Where Will It Go?

    Forget the buzz around Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO), which looks set for 2018. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (aka MBS) has been on a PR campaign to plant the seeds of a $2 trillion valuation. Other, more sober estimates put the figure at $1 trillion. Whatever the number, consider that ExxonMobil’s market capitalization is $353 billion;1 Saudi Aramco is three to six times that size. The game plan is to sell 5% of Saudi Aramco’s equity, most likely in New York or London. This is a big deal. Time for some “Kremlinology”2 on Riyadh. As if there wasn’t enough “Riyadhology,” MBS shook the tree in November...
    On November 17, 2017 / By