U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning following a stack of poor reports on the Italian economy. New industrial orders were down, industrial sales were down, and retail sales were down. To top it…
ThinkstockThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released its preliminary report on March farm prices. The index uses prices from 1990-1992 as its base value (100). The March price index rose 3 points (1.5%)…
ThinkstockToday’s auction of $35 billion in five-year Treasury notes produced a high yield of 0.76%, about two basis points above the yield at last month’s auction of five-year notes. The yields were higher as…
ThinkstockThree Federal Reserve Bank presidents were scheduled to deliver speeches today. Two have already done so: Eric Rosengren of the Boston Fed and Sandra Pianalto of the Cleveland Fed. Rosengren is a voting member…
ThinkstockThe U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its 2012 fourth-quarter mortgage metrics report this morning, outlining the performance of $4.7 trillion in principal mortgage balances. The OCC has been compiling…
ThinkstockThe U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. U.S. commercial crude inventories increased by 3.3 million barrels last week, bringing the total U.S. commercial crude inventory to 385.9…
ThinkstockThe National Association of Realtors (NAR) this morning released its data on pending home sales in February. The index fell 0.4% from a downwardly revised 105.2 in January to 104.8, and it is 8.4%…
ThinkstockPlatinum prices have fallen nearly 10% from their 2013 highs in early February. Palladium prices are off as well, but the drop is just 3.6%. This is not good for South Africa, which produces…
ThinkstockDiscount retailer Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) said this morning that it will sell 30 million shares in a secondary offering and that all the shares on offer are being sold by existing shareholders.…
ThinkstockWe have tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies as of March 15: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), MEMC…
ThinkstockWe have tracked the key short interest changes as of March 15 in the following semiconductor leaders: Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), SanDisk Corp.…
ThinkstockThe Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications this morning, noting an increase of 7.7% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index, following a drop of 7.1% for the previous…
ThinkstockWe have recently begun tracking short interest in the publicly traded companies that either make 3D printing systems or provide design and other services using the machines. As of March 15, short interest has…
ThinkstockWe have tracked the key short interest changes as of March 15 in the following large cap stocks: General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Verizon…
thinkstockHere are today’s five biggest gaining stocks at closing: SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is up 26.6% at $1.62. Bovie Medical Corp. (NYSEMKT: BVX) is up 26.5% at $3.53. PokerTek Inc (NASDAQ: PTEK) is up…
U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning and a spate of decent news on U.S. housing kept markets in the green all day. The S&P 500 index finished the day’s session within sight of…
thinkstockFitch Ratings has put Cyprus’s long-term foreign debt on a ratings watch with a possible negative outcome. The ratings agency has also capped its ratings on the ratings of all debt issuers and transactions…
ThinkstockThis might be one of those times that’s it difficult to tell the players even with a scorecard. The battle for control of the living room is about to be joined in earnest as…
ThinkstockToday’s report from the Conference Board on consumer confidence was disappointing, to say the least. As we noted, it may not be a shock to many observers, but consumer confidence is turning south at…
ThinkstockThe U.S. Census Bureau this morning released data on new single-family home sales for February. Sales fell 4.6% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000, from an upwardly revised January sales figure…