Consumer Sentiment Dives in November
ThinkstockConsumer sentiment as measured by the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters index fell from 82.7 in October to 74.5 in November. All the talk and news coverage related to the fiscal cliff is having an…
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Paul Ausick
Southwest Air Traffic Lower in November
courtesy Boeing Co.Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) reported this morning that traffic in November was down 1.5% year-over-year to 8.1 billion revenue passenger miles. A year ago the revenue passenger miles totaled 8.3 billion.…
Payroll-to-Population Ratio Declines — Gallup
ThinkstockIn a tracking survey that estimates the percentage of the U.S. population employed at least 30 hours a week, Gallup reports that the payroll-to-population (P2P) employment rate fell from 45.7% in October to 43.7%…
Amarin Takes on More Debt, Shares Suffer
ThinkstockBiopharmaceutical company Amarin Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: AMRN) announced after markets closed last night that it has received $100 million in nonequity financing from an investment fund managed by Pharmakon Advisors. Calling the cash infusing…
U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls, Job Numbers Rise
ThinkstockFiguring out what today’s data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) really means probably will have to wait until next month. November nonfarm payrolls showed an increase of 146,000 jobs, and the unemployment…
Will Apple Bring a Larger Foxconn Presence to the U.S.?
courtesy of AppleIn interview comments yesterday, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook indicated that Apple would fire-up at least one U.S. manufacturing line next year. A natural candidate to do the work is…
Palo Alto Networks Reports Lackluster Q1
ThinkstockPalo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) has been a growth story since before its July IPO. Shares came public at $42 and climbed to more than $72 in September, before beginning a slide brought…
Smith & Wesson Raises Outlook After Beating Estimates
ThinkstockSmith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) reported second-quarter fiscal 2013 earnings after markets closed today. For the quarter, the gun maker posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.31 on revenues of $136.6…
24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — December 6, 2012: Markets Close Higher as Americans Shed Debt (JDSU, LGF, SCCO, SBUX, FIO, MW, SAI, VRA, LULU, SFD, TITN, HWD, PANW, SWHC, AKAM, T, ZNGA, GMCR)
U.S. equity markets opened mixed this morning following a decision by the European Central Bank to leave its interest rates unchanged (more coverage here). Third-quarter eurozone GDP was in line with the expected contraction…
Apple Macs Coming Home
courtesy of AppleIn separate interviews today, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said the company plans to invest more than $100 million in 2013 to return some Mac manufacturing to the U.S. The…
U.S. Households Return to Cutting Debt
ThinkstockThe flow of funds report published today by the Federal Reserve Bank shows that U.S. household debt fell at an annual rate of 2% in the third quarter of 2012, following a second-quarter jump…
Investment Bank Lowers Oil Demand Forecast for 2012
ThinkstockU.S. demand for oil in September fell by 5.5% month-over-month and by about 3.8% year-over-year to around 18.35 million barrels a day. For the full year, demand is expected to decline by less than…
Akamai’s Deal with AT&T Gives Shares a Shot in the Arm
ThinkstockAkamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) this morning announced an alliance between the two companies to offer “a global suite of content delivery network (CDN) solutions to companies.” No dollar…
Natural Gas Inventory Falls as Expected, Price Stays Flat
thinkstockThe U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) today reported the U.S. natural gas stocks fell by a total of 73 billion cubic feet last week, right in the middle of an expected withdrawal range of…
Chevron’s Australian LNG Project Costs Jump
courtesy of Chevron Corp.Converting natural gas to liquefied natural gas (LNG) is very expensive and getting more so. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) last night said that its Gorgon LNG project offshore of Western Australian…
Unemployment Rises Sharply — Gallup
ThinkstockEven though today’s report on new claims for unemployment benefits showed that fewer new claims were made last week, Gallup’s unadjusted unemployment rate for November rose to 7.8% from 7.0% in October. Seasonally adjusted,…
Lululemon’s Outlook Disappoints
thinkstockYoga and athletic apparel maker Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) reported third-quarter fiscal 2012 diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.39 on revenue of $316.5 million before markets opened this morning. In the same…
Titan Beats Estimates, Raises Revenue Outlook
ThinkstockFarm equipment and machinery retailer Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) reported third-quarter fiscal 2013 diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.66 on revenue of $582.1 million before markets opened this morning. In the same period…
Smithfield Fails to Bring Home the Bacon
ThinkstockSmithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) reported second-quarter fiscal 2013 results before markets opened this morning. The food processing firm reported adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.61 on revenues of $3.23 billion. In…
Investors Cool to Starbucks Expansion Plans
Earlier today, Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) announced an accelerated expansion plan that would add 3,000 new stores in the company’s Americas division over the next five years and growing its China store numbers to…