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Stocks Cheer Economic Rebound, Yield Ease on Slower Rise In PCE

Barry Adams
27 Oct, 2022
New York City

Stocks rebounded following the release of GDP, durable goods and weekly jobless claims reports.

U.S. GDP in the third quarter rose at an annual rate of 2.6% after falling for two quarters in a row, according to the report released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Thursday.

The GDP rebounded from the 0.6% decline in the second quarter after improvement in net international trade helped the economy to rebound, supported by resilient consumer spending and a rise in business investment.

Bond yields fell sharply after the BEA report showed a marked decrease in growth in the price index, a measure of inflation.

The PCE price index increased 4.2% from 7.3% and excluding food and energy prices, the index increased 4.5% from 4.7% in the second quarter.

In other economic news, weekly jobless claims increased to 217,000 in the week ending on October 22, an increase of 3,000 from the unrevised claims of 214,000 from the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted durable goods orders increased 0.4% in September from the previous month to $274.4 billion, reported U.S. Census Bureau Thursday.

The September increase follows the revised 0.2% rise in August.

On a yearly basis, orders rose 10.9%.

Shipments rose 0.3% on a monthly basis and jumped 11.3% from a year ago.

The S&P 500 index eased 0.2% to 3,822.35 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 1.1% to 10,847.92 .

Crude oil increased $1.10 to $89.92 and natural gas fell 5 cents to $5.54 a thermal unit.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.38%, 10-year Treasury notes declined to 3.98% and 30-year bonds to 4.11%.

U.S. Stock Movers

Ford Motor Company dropped 0.1% to $12.83 after the automaker reported a third quarter loss of $827 million.

Ford said larger-than-expected loss was driven by $1 billion in higher supply chain issues related costs and parts shortages affecting at least 40,000 vehicles sales.

Meta Platforms plunged 22.5% to $100.65 after the social media platform operator reported second quarterly fall in revenue in a row.

Third quarter revenue declined 4% to $27.7 billion and net income plunged 52% to $4.4 billion from $5.2 billion a year ago.

Diluted earnings per share fell to $1.64 from $3.22 a year ago.

The company also forecasted revenue in the fourth quarter to fall between $30 billion and $32.5 billion, lower than $33.6 billion in the fourth quarter 2021.

McDonald's increased 3.4% to $265.45 after the fast food chain operator reported better-than-expected quarterly results and added that the U.S. store traffic rose despite the increase in menu prices.

The fast food chain operator said global comparable sales increased 9.5% and the U.S. comparable sales increased 6.1%, ninth quarterly increase in a row.

Third quarter revenues declined 5% to $5.8 billion from $6.2 billion a year ago.

Net income dropped 8% to $1.98 billion from $2.1 billion and diluted earnings per share fell 6% to $2.68 from $2.86 a year ago.

McDonald's increased quarterly cash dividend by 10% to $1.52 a share.

ECB Hikes Rates and Forecasts More Increases to Follow

The European Central Bank lifted its key lending rate by 75 basis points, the second large-size rate hike in a row and third increase this year.

The central bank also said it plans to revise terms of targeted longer term refinancing operations or TLTROs, the plan designed to encourage banks to lend to customers.

The interest rate charged for such facilities will be changed on November 23 and the banks will be given an opportunity for early repayment.

The facility was created to incentivize banks to increase lending in the real economy at the height of the pandemic but since the economic conditions have changed and inflation has soared from less than 2% to above 10%.

After the latest rate hike, the main lending rate was revised higher to 1.5%, the level not seen since 2009.

Despite the latest rate increase, rates are still in negative territory and the central bank is not done with rate increases.

European Indexes Waver After Rate Hike, Bond Yields Ease

Barry Adams
27 Oct, 2022
New York City

European markets turned lower and energy prices rose after the European Central Bank lifted its main lending rate as expected.

The European Central Bank lifted its key lending rate by 75 basis points, the second large-size rate hike in a row and third increase this year.

The central bank also said it plans to revise terms of targeted longer term refinancing operations or TLTROs, the plan designed to encourage banks to lend to customers.

The interest rate charged for such facilities will be changed on November 23 and the banks will be given an opportunity for early repayment.

The facility was created to incentivize banks to increase lending in the real economy at the height of the pandemic but since the economic conditions have changed and inflation has soared from less than 2% to above 10%.

After the latest rate hike, the main lending rate was revised higher to 1.5%, the level not seen since 2009.

Despite the latest rate increase, rates are still in negative territory and the central bank is not done with rate increases.

ECB Hikes Rate by 0.75%, Revises Emergency Program Terms

Bridgette Randall
27 Oct, 2022
Frankfurt

The European Central Bank lifted its key lending rate by 75 basis points, the second large-size rate hike in a row and third this year.

The central bank also said it plans to revise terms of targeted longer term refinancing operations or TLTROs, the plan designed to encourage banks to lend to customers.

The interest rate charged for such facilities will be changed on November 23 and the banks will be given an opportunity for early repayment.

The facility was created to incentivize banks to increase lending in the real economy at the height of the pandemic but since the economic conditions have changed and inflation has soared from less than 2% to above 10%.

After the latest rate hike, the main lending rate was revised higher to 1.5%, the level not seen since 2009.

Despite the latest rate increase, rates are still in negative territory and the central bank is not done with rate increases.

After Hours Earnings: Ford, Meta Platforms, Morningstar, O'Reilly Automotive, Raymond James

Scott Peters
26 Oct, 2022
New York City

Ford Motor Company dropped 1.7% to $12.70 after the automaker reported a third quarter loss of $827 million.

Ford said larger-than-expected loss was driven by $1 billion in higher supply chain issues related costs and parts shortages affecting at least 40,000 vehicles sales.

Meta Platforms plunged 12.2% to $114.0 after the social media platform operator reported a second quarterly fall in revenue in a row.

Third quarter revenue declined 4% to $27.7 billion and net income plunged 52% to $4.4 billion from $5.2 billion a year ago.

Diluted earnings per share fell to $1.64 from $3.22 a year ago.

The company also forecasted revenue in the fourth quarter to fall between $30 billion and $32.5 billion, lower than $33.6 billion in the fourth quarter 2021.

Morningstar, Inc edged lower 1.5% in after-hours trading after the financial information company posted third quarter revenue increased 9.2% to $468.2 million.

Net loss in the third quarter was $9.0 million, or 21 cents a diluted share, compared to net income $49.0 million, or $1.13 a diluted share.

The company also reduced its operations in China and took a one-time charge of $30.1 million.

O'Reilly Automotive Inc gained 3.5% to $805.0 after the auto parts retailer reported the third quarter sales increased 9% to $3.80 billion from $3.48 billion.

Net income increased to 5% to $585 million or 15.4% of sales from $559 million or 16.1% of sales.

Diluted earnings per common share increased 14% to $9.17 on 64 million shares from $8.07 on 69 million shares a year ago.

Raymond James Financial, Inc closed at $106.92 and was unchanged in after-hours trading after the financial services company reported fiscal fourth quarter revenue increased 5% to $2.83 billion.

Net income in the quarter increased to $437 million or $1.98 a diluted share from $429 million or $2.02 a share from a year ago.

Raymond James repurchased 600,000 shares of common stock for approximately $62 million at an average price of approximately $104 per share in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Including additional share repurchases totaling $38 million in October, approximately $800 million remained available under the current approved share repurchase authorization as of October 26, 2022.

The company revised full-year 2022 revenues in the range of $14.1 billion and $14.3 billion and comparable same store sales to rise between 4.5% and 5.5%.

Tech Heavy Nasdaq Drops 2% On Earnings Worries

Barry Adams
26 Oct, 2022
New York City

In volatile trading, benchmark indexes on Wall Street closed down after leading tech companies announced revenue growth slowdown and a mixed bag of earnings.

The latest quarterly results from Microsoft and Google highlighted a sharp slowdown in digital advertising,

The results also dragged Facebook parent Meta Platforms down5.6%.

After the close, Meta plunged additional 7% after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings and offered fourth quarter guidance that disappointed investors.

In addition, investors worried aggressive rate hike from the Federal Reserve next week may weaken the economy further and continue future corporate earnings.

The S&P 500 index declined 0.7% to 3,830.68 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 2.1% to 10,970.99.

Mortgage rates rose above 7% and the European Central Bank is set to lift its key lending rate by a large-size for the second time in a row on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve is also widely expected to lift its key lending rate by 75 basis points at the end of the 2-day meeting on November 2.

Crude oil rose $2.68 to $87.97 a barrel and natural gas edged down 5 cents to $5.52 a thermal unit.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes eased to 4.46%, on 10-year notes dropped to 4.01% and 30-year bonds fell to 4.15%.

Mortgage Rates Above 7%

Mortgage rates crossed 7% and increased for the 1-th week in a row, according to the data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage on balances less than $647,200 rose 22 basis points to 7.1% in the week ending on October 21, 2022.

Rates have jumped from 3% a year ago and have been rising following the rise in Treasury yields.

New Homes Sales Drop In September

New home sales declined sharply in September as higher prices and a sharp rise in mortgage rates kept buyers away.

New single-family home sales annual rate after adjusting for seasonal factors dropped to 603,000, from 677,000 in August, according to the data released by the e U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

New home sales fell 10.9% from August and dropped 17.6% from a year ago rate of 732,000.

The median sales price of new homes sold in September 2022 was $470,600 and the average sales price was $517,700.

Home sales are likely to remain depressed as mortgage rates have been rising, tracking higher Treasury yields in October.

Mortgage rates rose 22 basis points to 7.1% in the week ending October 21, 2022, according to the latest data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

At the current sales rate, new home supply is 462,000, representing 9.2 months of supply.

Stock Movers

Alphabet Inc fell 7.8% to $96.34 in after hours trading and the search engine operator said revenue in the third quarter increased 6% to $69.1 billion from $65.1 billion a year ago.

Net income in the period fell to $13.9 billion from $18.9 billion and diluted earnings per share dropped to $1.06 from $1.40 a year ago.

Alphabet's sales growth slowed sharply to 6% from 41% a year ago, highlighting pullback in corporate advertising from providers of financial services, mortgage and loans and insurance and crypto industry.

Boeing Company declined 1.1% to $145.10 despite the aerospace company reporting unexpected quarterly loss on issues linked to its Airforce One tanker program in addition to ongoing commercial plane production challenges.

Carnival Corp jumped 1.2% to $8.72 after the cruise line operator's subsidiary completed $2.03 billion senior debt offering secured by cruise vessels valued at $28 billion.

The new debt maturing in 2028 will refinance the current debt maturing in 2022.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc fell 5.2% to $1,502.23 after the fast-food restaurant chain operator said revenue in the third quarter increased 13.7% to $2.2 billion and comparable restaurant sales increased 7.6%.

Net income in the third quarter was $257.1 million or $9.20 a diluted share compared to $204.4 million or $7.18 a diluted share a year ago.

Stock declined after restaurant traffic eased on higher prices and looming recession and stretched consumer budget may dampen future comparable store sales.

Hilton Worldwide gained 2.2% to $1.30.64 after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and raised its estimate for full-year earnings on the sustained rise in travel demand.

Microsoft Corporation plunged 6.3% to $234.72 after the company said revenue in fiscal first quarter ending in September increased 11% to $50.1 billion and net income decreased 14% to $17.6 billion from a year ago.

Diluted earnings per share declined 13% to $2.35 from a year ago.

The stock declined sharply after the company cited weakness in its cloud business and earnings were ahead of expectations but growth slowed to the slowest pace in five years.

Search and news advertising sales growth declined to 16% from 40% a year ago and sales have growing at a slower pace every quarter in a row for a year, reflecting general weakness in online advertising.

Volatile European Markets Advance, ECB Rate Decision Looms

In volatile trading, European markets lacked direction ahead of the central bank's rate decision and rate-path direction.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to lift its key rate by 75 basis points after the policymaker's meeting on Thursday.

Despite the rising political pressure across the euro zone, the ECB is expected to increase rate by a large-size for the second time in a row and third time this year.

The current key lending rate of 75 basis points is lagging the 4-decade high inflation rate of above 10%.

Investors are also awaiting comments on when the ECB is likely to begin its process of selling government bonds after years of expanding its balance sheet dating as far back as euro crisis in 2011.

The DAX index increased 1.1% to 13,195.81, the CAC-40 index edged up 0.41% to 6,276.34 and the FTSE 100 index increased 0.6% to 7,056.67.

Brent crude edged up 67 cents to $97.10 a barrel and TTF natural gas rose 2% to

Movers: Alphabet, Boeing, Carnival, Chipotle, Hilton, Microsoft, Qualtrics, Texas Instruments, Visa