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☆ Here's our first-quarter earnings report card for every stock in the portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

As a result, about 78% of S & P 500 companies reported better-than-expected earnings results, according to FactSet. Though sales came up short of expectations, earnings, operating margin, and return on capital all notched new record highs in a tough economy. We also saw strong sales of key drug Mounjaro along with positive updates for its potential as a weight loss medication. GE Healthcare (GEHC) reported solid results with its first-quarter earnings release as sales and earnings outpaced expectations. Despite the top-line miss, TJX Companies (TJX) delivered better-than-expected earnings as management demonstrated the ability to diligently control expenses.

Persons: Emerson, Eli Lilly, Strong, Humana, Johnson, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Wells, Estee Lauder, Locker, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Hsun Huang, Patrick T Organizations: Club, Halliburton, HAL, Linde, LIN, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, billings, Procter & Gamble, Devices, Caterpillar, Costco, Coterra Energy, Management, GE Healthcare, Honeywell, Johnson, Wynn Resorts, WYNN, Valley Bank . Disney, Natural Resources, Constellation Brands, TJX Companies, Bausch Health, Nike, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC, Nvidia Corp, Mobile, Fallon, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: Washington, North America, United States, Wells, Macau, Asia, Los Angeles , California

☆ Private payrolls rose by 278,000 in May, well ahead of expectations, ADP says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. labor market posted another month of surprising strength in May as companies added jobs at a pace well above expectations, according to a report Thursday from payroll processing firm ADP. Private sector employment increased by a seasonally adjusted 278,000 for the month, ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 180,000 and a bit lower than the downwardly revised 291,000 in April. Trade, transportation and utilities posted an increase of 32,000 while the other services category added 12,000. "This is the second month we've seen a full percentage point decline in pay growth for job changers," ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said. The Labor Department said private payrolls rose by 230,000 in April.

Persons: Dow Jones, Nela Richardson, ADP's Organizations: ADP, Labor, Labor Department Locations: Novato , California, The U.S, Trade

The government expects growth could remain around 6.5% in the current fiscal year, despite risks emerging from a global slowdown. Asia's third-largest economy expanded faster than the forecast of 5.0% by economists in a Reuters poll in the last quarter of the 2022/23 fiscal year through March, up from a revised 4.5% in the previous quarter. She added growth numbers, however, reflected optimism for the Indian economy despite global headwinds. Reuters GraphicsFederal government spending, constituting about 10% of GDP, rose 2.3% year-on-year in the latest quarter, compared with a revised 0.6% contraction in the previous quarter. Currently, 45% of India's workforce is employed in the farm sector, which contributes just 15% to the economy.

Persons: Anantha Nageswaran, Sakshi Gupta, Narendra Modi, Economists, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Shivangi Acharya, Nishit Navin, Emelia Sithole, David Holmes Organizations: Reserve Bank of India, Reuters, Reuters Graphics Federal, Monitoring, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, HDFC, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru

☆ US labor market still tight as job openings rise, layoffs fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, from the Labor Department on Wednesday also showed layoffs declining significantly last month. There were 1.8 job openings for every unemployed person in April, up from 1.7 in March. Data for March was revised higher to show 9.75 million job openings instead of the previously reported 9.59 million. There were 185,000 more job openings in healthcare and social assistance, while vacancies jumped by 154,000 in the transportation, warehousing, and utilities. But Walker also acknowledged that some of the alternative measures of job openings could be downwardly biased, as their sample could be skewed toward companies which are more likely to have an online presence and have cut job openings sharply.

Persons: Priscilla Thiagamoorthy, Goldman Sachs, Ronnie Walker, Walker, JOLTS, Julia Pollak, Lucia Mutikani, Paul Simao, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Federal Reserve, Labor, Survey, Labor Department, Fed, BMO Capital Markets, Reuters, Treasury, ZipRecruiter, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Toronto

☆ Philippines' Q1 GDP slows to 6.4%, beats forecast
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MANILA, May 11 (Reuters) - The Philippine economy expanded 6.4% in the first quarter from a year earlier, the statistics agency said on Thursday, weaker than the previous quarter's downwardly revised 7.1% growth. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 6.1% on an annual basis. Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico dela Cruz; Writing by Karen Lema; Editing by Martin PettyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ As earnings season winds down, investors turn to Tuesday's debt ceiling meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

With only a small fraction of the S & P 500 left to report quarterly earnings, investors are now turning their focus to another major hurdle for the markets and economy: the debt ceiling crisis. Earlier this week, we looked back to debt limit crisis of 2011 for potential lessons. The protracted fight ultimately ended in an agreement in early August of that year, but it was a choppy summertime ride for investors. Within the portfolio, Wynn Resorts will report Tuesday, after the closing bell, and Disney will report on Wednesday, after the closing bell. Estee Lauder (EL) and Emerson Electric (EMR) reported earnings before the opening bell.

☆ Stocks are set for more volatility as the 'unlucky 13' months of strong job growth complicates the Fed's mission to cool the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A blowout jobs report and could make the Fed's job of tamping down inflation harder. The April US jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls grew by of 253,000 and a fall in the unemployment rate to 3.4%. Wages are key to the Fed's inflation outlook, and April brought a 0.5% rise in average hourly pay – the biggest monthly increase in a year. "This is a market that's really going to struggle. "It's too early to assess the likelihood of an additional Fed rate hike in mid-June, but this latest jobs report will push the excessively data-dependent Fed towards further tightening – a mistake in our view."

☆ Private payrolls surged by 296,000 in April, much higher than expected, ADP says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Hiring at private companies unexpectedly swelled in April, countering expectations for a cooling job market ahead, payroll processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. Private payrolls rose by 296,000 for the month, above the downwardly revised 142,000 the previous month and well ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 133,000. An imbalance of demand over supply in the labor market has created strong wage gains that are reflected in persistent inflation pressures. "The slowdown in pay growth gives the clearest signal of what's going on in the labor market right now," Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, said. "Employers are hiring aggressively while holding pay gains in check as workers come off the sidelines."

☆ US consumer spending flattens; core inflation still hot
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The unchanged reading in consumer spending last month, reported by the Commerce Department, followed a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in February. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, was previously reported to have increased 0.2% in February. Last month's flat reading in consumer spending set consumption and the overall economy on a lower growth path in the second quarter. Consumer spending is plateauing likely as Americans become more averse to higher prices. The so-called core PCE price index gained 4.6% on a year-on-year basis in March after rising 4.7% in February.

☆ U.S. consumer spending flat in March; core inflation still strong
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The unchanged reading in consumer spending last month, reported by the Commerce Department on Friday, followed a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in February. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, was previously reported to have increased 0.2% in February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending dipping 0.1%. Last month's flat reading in consumer spending set consumption on a lower growth path in the second quarter. The so-called core PCE price index gained 4.6% on a year-on-year basis in March after rising 4.7% in February.

☆ Investing Club mailbag: What is an ex-dividend date and should you buy a stock before of after?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

I always wanted the dividend and then waited a few days to sell because the stock price always seemed to go down after the ex-date. — Richard F. We don't concern ourselves too much with trading around an ex-dividend date because it, technically, doesn't matter. The ex-dividend date is when the value of the next dividend payment is extracted from the stock price. Based purely on the stock price move that is correct. Ultimately, the value of your position, when excluding the daily fluctuation of a stock price, is the same.

☆ Australia's robust March employment suggests RBA may hike again
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Steven Saphore/File PhotoSummary Strong employment, jobless near 50-year lows keep RBA on alertFull-time employment surges, positive for household incomeData suggests strong Q1 inflation, see RBA hike again -analystSYDNEY, April 13 (Reuters) - Australia employment blew past expectations for a second month in March while the jobless rate held near 50-year lows, an unambiguously strong report that suggests the central bank's tightening campaign may not be over yet. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday net employment rose 53,000 in March from February, when they rebounded by a steep but slightly downwardly revised 63,600. The jobless rate stayed at 3.5%, when analysts had looked for a nudge up to 3.6%. Full-time employment surged by 72,200, after a hefty increase of 74,900 the previous month, an encouraging sign for household income. Reporting by Stella Qiu and Wayne Cole; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bank deposits edge up after record outflows, Fed data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Dan Burns | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Federal Reserve data released on Friday showed deposits at all commercial banks rose to $17.35 trillion in the week ended March 29, on a nonseasonally adjusted basis, from a downwardly revised $17.31 trillion a week earlier. It was the first increase since the start of March and marked an end, for the moment, to a record flight of deposits triggered by the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank toward the middle of last month. The second and third largest bank failures in U.S. history forced federal regulators to guarantee all deposits at both institutions and prompted the Fed to take emergency actions to restore confidence in the banking system. Deposits rose at both the largest 25 banks by assets and at small and mid-sized banks as well. The Fed said banks had offloaded that amount of assets in each of the two latest weeks, most of it coming in the form of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.

Argentina - a serial defaulter which has long battled high inflation, currency weakness and indebtedness - struck a $57 billion deal with the IMF in 2018 to try and fix its economic woes. Those reviews of how Argentina is doing against its economic targets are linked to scheduled disbursements of funds. Failure to meet the targets could stall the program or force the IMF to adjust the targets further. The IMF net reserve targets are the amount Argentina needs to accumulate over time above a baseline of $2.277 billion at the end of 2021. "That will make it hard to meet the IMF's (downwardly revised) FX reserve target and increases the risk of a disorderly devaluation."

☆ U.S. Job Openings Dropped in February
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Gabriel T. Rubin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Job openings in February still far outnumbered the 5.9 million unemployed people seeking work. The number of job openings fell in February, dropping below 10 million for the first time in nearly two years in a sign that employers’ demand for workers eased amid a still strong labor market. There were a seasonally adjusted 9.9 million job openings in February, the Labor Department said Tuesday, down from January’s downwardly revised 10.6 million.

☆ Job openings shrank more than expected in February in a positive sign for the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

That’s lower than the downwardly revised 10.56 million reported for January, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Economists were expecting 10.4 million available positions, according to Refinitiv. The industries with the largest declines in job openings were professional and business services, health care and social assistance, and transportation, warehousing and utilities, according to the BLS. With the latest decline in open positions, the labor market is now showing a little more slack. The number of available jobs per job seeker is now fewer than 1.7, down from nearly 1.9.

☆ Going against the grain: We're nibbling on weakness and selling into strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

We are buying 20 shares of Caterpillar (CAT) at roughly $217.39 and selling 20 shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) at roughly $355.11. With the market dumping the cyclicals and favoring the defensives today, we are going against the grain by nibbling on weakness (Caterpillar) and selling into strength (Eli Lilly). As for Eli Lilly, the recent rotation back into pharmaceutical stocks has pushed LLY back near $360, which is about where it started in 2023. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ Job openings tumbled below 10 million in February for the first time in nearly two years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Job openings fell below 10 million in February for the first time in nearly two years, in a sign that the Federal Reserve's efforts to slow the labor market may be having some impact. Available positions totaled 9.93 million, a drop of 632,000 from January's downwardly revised number, the Labor Department reported Tuesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Prior to the February data, job openings had been outnumbering available workers by nearly 2 to 1. "The labor market is starting to loosen as the number of job openings declined in most sectors. Professional and business services saw a slide of 278,000 job openings on the month, while trade, transportation and utilities decreased 210,000.

☆ The Fed’s favorite inflation measure cooled in February
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 5% for the 12 months ended in February, lower than January’s downwardly revised 5.3% gain, the Commerce Department reported Friday. In January, the core PCE index was up 4.7% year-over-year. Consensus estimates from economists forecast the core PCE index would rise 0.4% from the prior month and 4.7% year over year. PCE, specifically the core measurement, is the Fed’s favored inflation gauge since it provides a more complete picture of costs for consumers. Consumer spending rose 0.2% in February, representing a sharp cooldown from January’s hot reading of 1.8%, according to the report.

☆ UK house prices rise 6.3% in 12 months to January - ONS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - British house prices rose by 6.3% in January from the same month in 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday. The rise was smaller than December's downwardly revised 9.3% increase. London saw the weakest annual price rise of all English regions, with prices in the capital up 3.2%, the ONS said. Reporting by Suban AbdullaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Producer Prices Dropped in February
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Gwynn Guilford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The producer-price index reflects prices paid to suppliers by businesses and other customers. U.S. supplier prices fell in February from a month earlier, a possible sign of a recent easing in inflationary pressures. The producer-price index, which generally reflects supply conditions across the economy, fell 0.1% in February from the prior month, compared with a downwardly revised 0.3% increase in January, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That compared with a 0.2% average monthly rise in the two years before the pandemic.

New York CNN —A key measure of inflation fell dramatically in February, according to the latest Producer Price Index, which tracks what America’s producers get paid for their goods and services. Producer price increases slowed to an annual pace of 4.6% last month, significantly down from 6% in January, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had been expecting the 12-month rise in wholesale prices to slow to a 5.4% increase. Those are down from January’s downwardly revised 5% annual price gain and 0.1% monthly increase. The latest Consumer Price Index, which was released Tuesday, showed prices were up 6% during the 12 months ended in February.

☆ Wholesale prices post unexpected decline of 0.1% in February; retail sales fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Wholesale prices posted an unexpected decline in February, providing some encouraging news on inflation as the Federal Reserve weighs its next move on interest rates. On a 12-month basis, the index increased 4.6%, well below the downwardly revised 5.7% level from the previous month. Hiring edged lower as did the prices index. The news comes a day after the Labor Department said consumer prices rose another 0.4% in February, bringing the annual inflation rate to 6%. Despite the downward drift in the annual inflation rate, and recent banking industry turmoil, financial markets still expect the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates when it meets next week.

Summary Oct-Dec GDP at 4.4% vs 4.6% Reuters forecastOct-Dec manufacturing sector down 1.1%Govt maintains 7% growth for 2022/23Economists see slowing consumer demand, possible rate hikeFeb 27 (Reuters) - India's economic growth slowed further in the December quarter as pent up demand eased and weakness in the manufacturing sector continued. Asia's third largest economy recorded year-on-year growth of 4.4% in October-December, down from 6.3% in July-September, data released by the government on Tuesday showed. The sharp fall in the year-on-year growth rate is also partly due to a fading of pandemic-induced base effects and revision to last year's growth, economists said. "We are likely to hit the 7% GDP growth target for the year," said India's chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran at a press briefing. Government spending declined 0.8% year-on-year in the December quarter compared to revised 4.1% contraction in the previous quarter.

☆ Pending home sales blew past expectations last month as buyers pounced on lower rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Pending home sales crushed expectations in January, when mortgage rates dropped from recent highs of more than 7% and home buyers jumped at the opportunity. According to data released Monday from the National Association of Realtors, it was the largest monthly sales increase since June 2020. The pending sales index, based on signed contracts to buy a home rather than the final sales that are accounted for in existing home sales, rose by 8.1% from December to January, beating economists’ predictions for a rise of 1%. “Buyers responded to better affordability from falling mortgage rates in December and January,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. But since then, mortgage rates have risen again, climbing almost half a percentage point since the beginning of February, according to Freddie Mac.

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