*from www.bloomberg.com, May 9, 2013 (To view original article click here.)
Take Away #1: U.S. stocks fell, following five successive S&P 500 Index as investors weighed earnings and sales from companies including Monster Beverage Corp. and News Corp.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The S&P 500 Index slid 0.3% to 1,628.58 at 12:24 p.m. in New York.
- The Dow dropped 11.82 points, or 0.1%, to 15,093.30.
- Trading in the S&P stocks was 9.3% below the 30-day average at this time of day.
Take Away #2: About 72% of S&P 500 companies that have released results since the start of the earnings season have exceeded profit projections while 52% have missed sales estimates.
Key Facts and Figures:
- This according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
- Dean Foods Co. and Priceline.com Inc. are among the S&P 500 companies reporting earnings today.
Take Away #3: Applications for unemployment insurance payments decreased by 4,000 to 323,000 in the week ended May 4.
Key Facts and Figures:
- That is the least since January 2008, Labor Dept. figures showed today.
- Economists forecast 335,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
- The average over the past month was the lowest since before the last recession began.
Take Away #4: A separate report showed inventories at U.S. wholesalers climbed in March.
Key Facts and Figures:
- This as sales slumped by the most in four years, indicating companies may limit orders to factories.
Take Away #5: U.S. stocks rallied yesterday, as companies forecast earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The S&P 500 has surged 14% so far this year amid optimism central banks will continue to use stimulus to support economic growth.
- The equity benchmark has surged 141% since March 2009, entering the fifth year of a bull market as the Federal Reserve conducted three rounds of bond purchases.
Take Away #6: Fed Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said it is “disturbing” to him that “more and more is being expected of central banks.”
Key Facts and Figures:
- “We are expected to solve the world’s problems, “Plosser said.
- “Our fiscal authorities are not doing a very good job in any country,” Plosser said.
- In Europe, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today left its bond-purchase program unchanged at 375 billion pounds ($584 billion).
- The bank also kept its key interest rate at a record low of 0.5%.
- In Asia, the Bank of Korea cut its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate today to 2.5% from 2.75%.
Take Away #7: Utility companies lost 1.3% as a group, while phone stocks erased 0.9%.
Key Facts and Figures:
- AT&T sank 1.4% to $37.30.
- Industrial stocks rose 0.2% for the largest gain out of the S&P 500 groups.
- Monster Beverage tumbled 6.4% to $53.30.
- Monster has experienced a slowdown this year through April, in part due to negative publicity over the safety and caffeine content of its beverages, said CEO Rodney Sacks.
Take Away #8: Activision and Rackspace decline.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) dropped 7.9% to $14.06.
- CEO Bobby Kotick said “the risks and uncertainties in the back half of 2013 are more challenging than our earlier view, especially in the holiday quarter.”
- Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX) tumbled 26%, the most since the company’s initial public offering in August 2008, to $38.59.
- The provider of Web-based computing posted first-quarter earnings and sales that missed projections.
Take Away #9: News Corp., Precision Castparts, Tesla, Green Mountain Coffee, and Groupon surge.
Key Facts and Figures:
- News Corp. advanced 4.3% to $33.36.
- The Rupert Murdoch-led media company tripled net income to $2.85 billion in its third quarter.
- Profit excluding some items of 36 cents a share beat the 35-cent average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
- Precision Castparts jumped 8.7%, the biggest gain in the S&P 500, to a record $208.79.
- The maker of metal components reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.82, exceeding the $2.75 estimated by analysts on average.
- Tesla Inc. increased 24% to $69.30, the highest since its market debut in June 2010.
- The maker of electric cars run by billionaire Elon Musk posted its first profit and beat estimates on sales of luxury Model S sedans.
- Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. added 24% to $73.81, the highest since October 2011.
- The maker of Keurig single-serve brewers raised its profit forecast on higher K-Cup sales and announcing an expanded partnership with Starbucks Corp.
- Groupon Inc. (GRPN) surged 8.9% to $6.09.
- The daily-deals website posted first-quarter revenue that exceeded estimates as sales through its mobile applications increased.
- The company’s net loss was 1 cent a share, while analysts predicted a loss of 2 cents.
Take Away #10: Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, advanced 3.2% to 93 cents.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The mortgage-financier seized by U.S. regulators in 2008 will pay the Treasury Department $59.4 billion after reporting a record quarterly profit driven by rising home prices and declining delinquencies.
*To view original article from www.bloomberg.com click here.