Earnings to Watch (31/01/2013) Thursday BMO:

Earnings to Watch (31/01/2013)

Thursday BMO:

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and certain smokeless products in the U.S. The company has a market capitalization of $67.74 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 55 cents on revenue of $4.33 billion, compared with a profit of 50 cents a share on revenue of $4.35 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $2.21 per share earnings on revenue of $17.4 billion. That compares to $2.05 per share and $16.62 billion in the previous year. Altria Group is trading at around $33.45 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 16.6 percent.

The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) is a manager of private capital and provider of financial advisory services. The company has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 47 cents on revenue of $1.1 billion, compared with a profit of 40 cents a share on revenue of $925.01 million in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $1.64 per share earnings on revenue of $3.93 billion. That compares to $1.25 per share and $3.28 billion in the previous year. The Blackstone Group is trading at around $18.22 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 14.5 percent.

Cameron International Corporation (NYSE: CAM) provides flow equipment products, systems and services to worldwide oil, gas and process industries. The company has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 96 cents on revenue of $2.38 billion, compared with a profit of 77 cents a share on revenue of $2.03 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $3.14 per share earnings on revenue of $8.45 billion. That compares to $2.67 per share and $6.96 billion in the previous year. Cameron International Corporation is trading at around $60.72 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 13.8 percent.

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is a consumer products company. The company has a market capitalization of $52.04 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of $1.4 on revenue of $4.31 billion, compared with a profit of $1.3 a share on revenue of $4.17 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $5.36 per share earnings on revenue of $17.12 billion. That compares to $5.03 per share and $16.73 billion in the previous year. Colgate-Palmolive is trading around $110.15 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 23.8 percent.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is a diversified manufacturer and supplier of products used primarily as raw materials in the manufacture of customer products and services worldwide. The company has a market capitalization of $41.47 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 34 cents on revenue of $13.7 billion, compared with a profit of 25 cents a share on revenue of $14.1 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $1.91 per share earnings on revenue of $56.56 billion. That compares to $2.54 per share and $59.99 billion in the previous year. The Dow Chemical Company is trading around $34.58 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 3.6 percent.

Dunkin Brands Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) is a franchisor of restaurants serving coffee and baked goods, as well as ice cream within the quick service restaurant segment of the restaurant industry. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 33 cents on revenue of $170.79 million, compared with a profit of 30 cents a share on revenue of $168.51 million in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $1.27 per share earnings on revenue of $667.47 million. That compares to 94 cents per share and $628.2 million in the previous year. Dunkin Brands Group is trading around $36.85 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 38.9 percent.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is a global payments and technology company. The company has a market capitalization of $64.68 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of $4.82 on revenue of $1.89 billion, compared with a profit of $4.03 a share on revenue of $1.73 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $22.01 per share earnings on revenue of $7.39 billion. That compares to $18.7 per share and $6.71 billion in the previous year. Mastercard is trading around $519.42 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 52.47 percent.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) is a provider of video, high-speed data and voice services in the U.S. The company has a market capitalization of $30.36 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of $1.55 on revenue of $5.5 billion, compared with a profit of $1.31 a share on revenue of $4.99 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $6.69 per share earnings on revenue of $21.41 billion. That compares to $4.56 per share and $19.68 billion in the previous year. Time Warner Cable is trading around $100.6 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 45.7 percent.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) is a package delivery company that operates in the U.S. less-than-truckload industry, and the provider of global supply chain management solutions. The company has a market capitalization of $78.66 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of $1.38 on revenue of $14.44 billion, compared with a profit of $1.28 a share on revenue of $14.17 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $4.58 per share earnings on revenue of $53.99 billion. That compares to $4.23 per share and $53.11 billion in the previous year. UPS is trading at around $82.45 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 9.3 percent.

Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) is an entertainment content company. The company has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion. It is expected to report FY 2013 first-quarter EPS of 91 cents on revenue of $3.52 billion, compared with a profit of $1.06 a share on revenue of $3.95 billion in the year-ago period. Viacom is trading at around $59.02 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 23.9 percent.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) is a holding company with subsidiaries engaged primarily in the utility business. The company has a market capitalization of $13.43 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 28 cents on revenue of $2.93 billion, compared with a profit of 29 cents a share on revenue of $2.57 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $1.81 per share earnings on revenue of $10.6 billion. That compares to $1.72 per share and $10.66 billion in the previous year. Xcel Energy is trading at around $27.55 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 3.6 percent.

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is a diversified health care benefits company. The company has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 95 cents on revenue of $8.97 billion, compared with a profit of 97 cents a share on revenue of $8.54 billion in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls $5.15 per share earnings on revenue of $35.56 billion. That compares to $5.17 per share and $33.61 billion in the previous year. Aetna is trading at around $49.76 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 13.8 percent.

Thursday AMC:

Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE: SPF) is a geographically diversified builder of single-family attached and detached homes. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion. It is expected to report FY 2012 fourth-quarter EPS of 7 cents on revenue of $372.87 million, compared with a profit of 4 cents a share on revenue of $293.16 million in the year-ago period. The analysts' consensus full-year forecast calls 19 cents per share earnings on revenue of $1.19 billion. That compares to a loss of 5 cents per share on revenue of $882.99 million in the previous year. Standard Pacific Corp. is trading at around $8.44 a share. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained 107.4 percent.

U.S. Stocks Fall as Fed Maintains Plan as Economy Shrinks

Nine out of the 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated as energy and industrial companies fell the most, dropping at least 0.6 percent. An index of homebuilders slipped 1.3 percent as Lennar Corp. declined 2.4 percent. Amazon.com Inc. jumped 4.8 percent after reporting gains in sales and North American operating margin. Facebook Inc. fell 1.4 percent in late trading after posting a drop in profit.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 1,501.96 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 44 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,910.42. Both measures yesterday reached their highest levels since 2007. The Russell 2000 Index slid 1.2 percent, falling from yesterday’s record high. About 6.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges today, or 9.5 percent above the three-month average.
“The underlying trend for the market is upward, but the problem is there is some weakness in the economic numbers that I don’t think investors have fully factored in,” David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds in New York, said by phone. His firm oversees about $400 billion. “It’s transitory as the Fed said. But when you put in a negative number on GDP for the fourth quarter, it’s hard for the market to rally.”
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has unleashed the power of the central bank to buy unlimited amounts of Treasury and mortgage- backed securities in a bid to end a four-year long period of unemployment above 7.5 percent and bolster the economy. The central bank said today it will keep purchasing securities at the rate of $85 billion a month as the economy paused because of temporary forces including bad weather

A Quick Glance at News (22/01/2013)

The Bank of Japanannounced on Tuesday its most determined effort yet to end years of economic stagnation, saying it would switch to an open-ended commitment to buying assets next year and double its inflation target to 2 percent.

Asian shares rose on Tuesday amid optimism over the globalgrowth outlook, but bold easing measures from the Bank of Japanfailed to lift Tokyo equities and the yen rebounded from a brief sell-off as investors digested the central bank's actions.

U.S. safety investigators on Sunday ruled out excessvoltage as the cause of a battery fire this month on a Boeing Co (BA.N) 787 Dreamliner jet operated by Japan Airlines Co (JAL) (9201.T) and said they were expanding the probe to look at the battery's charger and the jet's auxiliary power.

The yen briefly fell against the dollar on Tuesday after the Bankof Japansurprised markets by adopting an open-ended commitment to buy assets, but later regained ground as the new scheme for additional purchases only comes into effect next year.

Shares of Research In Motion surged to a 13-month high on Mondayafter its chief executive said the company may consider strategic alliances with other companies after the launch of devices powered by RIM's new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

Brent crude rose 0.3 percent to $112.07 a barrel as the BOJ's latest easing action added to the recent positive data from the United States and China, while growing confidence in the strength of China's economic recovery pushed London copper up 0.7 percent to $8,111.75 a metric ton.

Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have scheduled a vote on Wednesday on a nearly four-month extension of U.S. borrowing capacity, aimed at avoiding a fight over the looming federal debt ceiling and shifting their negotiating leverage for spending cuts to other fiscal deadlines.

Gold and silver bullion are on the move

The price movement of gold and silver often attract much attention. When prices make a noticeable increase, it regularly leads to perma-bulls calling for the next great explosion in precious metals. On the other hand, any dips or corrections lead to critics calling for an end to the 12-year bull market. Both sides are debatable, but there is no denying that physical bullion made impressive moves this past week.

The Bundesbank confirmed reports and announced it will repatriate a portion of its foreign gold reserves. By 2020, the central bank intends to store half of Germany’s gold reserves in its own vaults within the country, compared to only 31% now. The other half will remain in New York and London. The plan will remove 300 tonnes of gold from New York, reducing Germany’s percentage of reserves held at the New York Federal Reserve from 45% to 37%. Another 374 tonnes will be relocated from Paris to Frankfurt, which removes all of Germany’s gold held in France’s capital.

Central banks have shown a great deal of interest in gold over the past few years. For the first-time in decades, central banks across the globe became net buyers of the precious metal in 2009. Last year, central bank purchases increased 17% to 536 metric tons, according to Thomas Reuters GFMS. This represents the biggest addition to gold reserves in 48 years. The organization also expects central banks to add another 280 tons in the first half of 2013.

Silver making moves too…

Gold is not the only precious metal making moves this week. The iShares Silver Trust, which is the biggest exchange-traded fund for silver, added 572 tons of the metal. It is the biggest increase in assets for the BlackRock  managed fund since December 2007. The ETF has received inflows of more than $600 million this week, leading all ETFs in the marketplace. According to Bloomberg and Barclays, global investment through all silver-backed exchange-traded products is at a record 19,114 tons.

Demand in silver coins is also showing strength. The U.S. Mint suspended sales of the new American Silver Eagle. In a statement to authorized purchasers, the Mint explains, “The United States Mint has temporarily sold out of 2013 American Eagle Silver Bullion coins. As a result, sales are suspended until we can build up an inventory of these coins. Sales will resume on or about the week of January 28, 2013, via the allocation process.”

The 2013 American Silver Eagle was initially released on Jan. 7, 2013. On the first day of availability, the Mint received more than 3.9 million orders, the highest one-day of sales in the history of the program. According to the latest information on the Mint’s website, sales have reached about 6 million coins for January and are on pace to surpass the all-time high of 6.1 million coins set in January 2012.



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FISCAL CLIFF (What’s in Boehner’s “Plan B” – and what’s not)

What’s in Boehner’s “Plan B” – and what’s not

December 19, 2012, 11:30 AM

House Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B” is Topic A in Washington as Republicans and the White House try to avert the fiscal cliff. And while it has almost no chance of clearing the Democratic-controlled Senate, passage in the House would allow the GOP to say Republicans acted to stop some tax increases. A vote — which the White House says President Obama would veto — is expected on Thursday.

Here’s a look at what’s in the bill, and what’s not.

The marquee element of the bill, which Boehner first unveiled on Tuesday, is its extension of Bush-era tax cuts for Americans making less than $1 million. That threshold was a concession by Boehner, who’d originally wanted tax increases on no one. But it’s much higher than President Obama’s $400,000 threshold (which was itself a concession for Obama).

Plan B also sets at 20% the tax rates for capital gains and dividends on income higher than $1 million — but keeps the current 15% rate for those making less than $1 million. Without a fiscal cliff agreement, rates on capital gains go up to a maximum of 23.8%. For dividends, rates go even higher, from 15% now to 43.4%. Click here for a Tax Foundation primer on the fiscal cliff.

Boehner’s bill would keep current rules on the estate tax, setting the exemption just north of $5 million with a top rate of 35%. That’s compared to 55% without a fiscal-cliff deal. Obama would set the estate tax at 45% with a $3.5 million exemption.

Plan B would also prevent the expansion of the alternative minimum tax, and extend some expensing for small businesses.

What it would NOT do is address the across-the-board spending cuts set to kick in next year for the Pentagon and domestic spending. Nor would it deal with the debt limit.

So while passage of Plan B would put Republicans on the record as opposing most tax increases (as if that were in doubt) it would only address half of the fiscal cliff. But Republicans could blame someone else for that.

FISCAL CLIFF (What’s in Boehner’s “Plan B” – and what’s not)

What’s in Boehner’s “Plan B” – and what’s not

December 19, 2012, 11:30 AM

House Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B”is Topic A in Washington as Republicans and the White House try to avert the fiscal cliff. And while it has almost no chance of clearing the Democratic-controlled Senate, passage in the House would allow the GOP to say Republicans acted to stop some tax increases. A vote — which the White House says President Obama would veto — is expected on Thursday.

Here’s a look at what’s in the bill, and what’s not.

The marquee element of the bill, which Boehner first unveiled on Tuesday, is its extension of Bush-era tax cuts for Americans making less than $1 million. That threshold was a concession by Boehner, who’d originally wanted tax increases on no one. But it’s much higher than President Obama’s $400,000 threshold (which was itself a concession for Obama).

Plan B also sets at 20% the tax rates for capital gains and dividends on income higher than $1 million — but keeps the current 15% rate for those making less than $1 million. Without a fiscal cliff agreement, rates on capital gains go up to a maximum of 23.8%. For dividends, rates go even higher, from 15% now to 43.4%. Click herefor a Tax Foundation primer on the fiscal cliff.

Boehner’s bill would keep current rules on the estate tax, setting the exemption just north of $5 million with a top rate of 35%. That’s compared to 55% without a fiscal-cliff deal. Obama would set the estate tax at 45% with a $3.5 million exemption.

Plan B would also prevent the expansion of the alternative minimum tax, and extend some expensing for small businesses.

What it would NOT do is address the across-the-board spending cuts set to kick in next year for the Pentagon and domestic spending. Nor would it deal with the debt limit.

So while passage of Plan B would put Republicans on the record as opposing most tax increases (as if that were in doubt) it would only address half of the fiscal cliff. But Republicans could blame someone else for that.