U.S. Jobless Claims Decline, Greek Saga Continues

Arthi Gupta
21 Nov, 2012
New York City

U.S. indexes declined after European leaders postponed the release of next tranche of Greek bailout to next week. U.S. weekly jobless claims fell 41,000 to 410,000.

[R]9:35 AM New York – U.S. indexes declined after European leaders postponed the release of next tranche of Greek bailout to next week. U.S. weekly jobless claims fell 41,000 to 410,000.[/R]

Stocks in early trading trended lower after European lenders and finance ministers postponed the decision to release the next tranche of bailout to Greece to next Monday.

Jobless claims filed last week declined but remained above the trend line due to superstorm Sandy.

Euro zone finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank agreed to postpone decision to release next tranche of Greek bailout to next Monday after a 12-hour long meeting.

Greece is expected to run out of money at the end of this month and lenders are still concerned if Greece has too much debt and if the nation needs additional two years to 2022 to repay its international obligation.

Asian markets closed mixed after weak Japanese economic data.

Japan reported a trade deficit of a 549 billion yen for October. Exports declined 6.5% annually and imports fell 1.6% in October.

U.S. Jobless Claims Fall

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims decreased 41,000 to 410,000 for the week ending November 17 from the previous week''s revised figure of 451,000.

The 4-week moving average was 396,250, an increase of 9,500 from the previous week''s revised average of 386,750.

The Labor Department revised its estimate of new claims in the week ending on November 10 to 451,000 and several sources in the department confirmed that states are still reporting an increase in claims linked to Sandy.

Earnings Review

Deere & Company ((DE)), the farm and construction machinery maker said fourth quarter worldwide net sales and revenues rose 14% to $9.8 billion from the prior-year quarter. Net income in the quarter rose to $687.6 million or $1.75 per diluted share compared with $669.6 million or $1.62 per share, for the same period last year.

For the full year, worldwide net sales and revenues increased 13% to $36.16 billion. Net income for the fiscal year was $3.07 billion or $7.63 per share compared with $2.8 billion or $6.63 per share in 2011.

Donaldson Company, Inc. ((DCI)), the filtration systems manufacturer reported first quarter net sales fell 3% to $589 million compared to last year. Net earnings decreased 21% to $54 million or 36 cents per diluted share from $69 million or 45 cents per share the prior year.

salesforce.com Inc. ((CRM)), the enterprise cloud computing provider reported third quarter surged 35% to $788 million from last year. Net loss in the quarter widened to $220.3 million or $1.55 per share from $3.76 million or 3 cents per share last year.

Scholastic Corp. ((SCHL)), the educational technology products provider revised estimates for fiscal year 2013 earnings to be in the range of $1.40 to $1.60 per diluted share on revenues of approximately $1.8 to $1.9 billion.