It’s kind of like selling goods to consumers with very bad credit and then being surprised when they don’t pay. But before I get into that, we all know Greece owes Germany, the ECB, and the IMF a lot of money. Last week I explained that if they went the “Grexit” route, 75% of Greece’s…
For you stock-market buffs, here’s a blast from the past: “Plunge Protection Team.” You remember those guys? That’s the catchy nickname for a presidential group of officially sanctioned market manipulators who sprung out of Wall Street’s 1987 crash, and who have been pulling strings and pushing levers behind the scenes ever since to keep the…
3M Company (MMM – Analyst Report) reported record earnings of $2.02 per share for second-quarter 2015, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.99 and reflecting an increase of 5.8% year over year. Shares were trending downward in pre-market trading, as investors were likely disappointed by the weak revenue numbers. 3M Company – Earnings Surprise | FindTheBest Net income…
Echo bubbles aren’t followed by a third bubble. Speculative bubbles that burst are often followed by an echo bubble, as many participants continue to believe that the crash was only a temporary setback. The U.S. housing market is experiencing a classic echo bubble. Exhibit A is the Case-Shiller Housing Index for the San Francisco region, which has…
Amazon (AMZN) reports its FQ2 ’15 results after the closing bell tonight. Currently, the Estimize community have 106 estimates and are predicting an EPS figure of -$0.07 compared to Wall Street which predict -$0.17. Estimize are also predicting higher revenues of $22.422B relative to Wall Street’s $22.308B consensus. Amazon has been a fantastic investment year-to-date…
China has amassed one of the largest pools of capital. It was in the form of central bank reserves. At its peak, it was around $4 trillion. The composition of these reserves is a closely guarded secret. However, if the yuan is going to be including the IMF’s SDR, it is anticipated that China report will…
Dow Chemical (DOW – Analyst Report) comfortably beat earnings expectations in second-quarter 2015 and saw a healthy rise in its profits, thanks to strong margins in its performance plastics business. But its sales missed expectations, hurt by currency headwinds stemming from a stronger greenback and lower oil prices. The U.S. chemical kingpin recorded profits of $1,135 million or…
Congress should bite the bullet and raise the gas tax to fund highway repairs and construction. And it should make sure highway taxes are used for the roads not to finance politicians’ pet projects and line union pockets. The Federal Highway Trust Fund was established in 1956 with a 3 cent gasoline tax to finance…
Earnings remain front and center on the busiest day of the Q2 reporting session thus far, with more than 50 S&P 500 index members reporting results. A few positive reports notwithstanding, the overall tone coming out of this morning’s long line-up of results is negative. Of this morning’s releases, Caterpillar’s (CAT – Analyst Report) weak numbers are…
Caterpillar released its second quarter earnings report before opening bell this morning, posting earnings of $1.27 per share, which was in line with expectations on revenue of $12.3 billion, a 13% year over year decline. Analysts had been looking for sales of $12.74 billion. Key metrics from Caterpillar’s earnings report Net earnings were $1.16 per…
