DOW – 26 = 17,086
SPX + 3 = 1987
NAS + 17 = 4473
10 YR YLD un = 2.46%
OIL = 103.12
GOLD – 3.50 = 1305.00
SILV – .06 = 21.01
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose to an all-time high, as Apple boosted technology companies and health-care shares rallied through another busy day of earnings reports. The Dow was lower, mainly due to Boeing – we will get to that in a moment. Apple hit its highest level since 2012, based on earnings reported after the close yesterday.
Profits at S&P 500 members probably rose 6.2 percent in the second quarter, while sales gained 3.3 percent. Let’s knock out a few earnings reports:
Facebook posted $791 million in net income, or 30 cents a share compared with $333 million or 13 cents a share in the second quarter of 2013; revenue totaled $2.9 billion compared to $1.8 billion in the year ago period. Mobile advertising represented 62% of its ad revenue; they have figured out Facebook on a smartphone. Facebook now claims 1.32 billion monthly users.
AT&T was once the telephone company, now it’s the second largest US mobile provider; they earned $3.6 billion or 68 cents per share in the second quarter, down from $3.8 billion or 71 cents per share a year ago; even as revenue increase from $32.1 billion to $32.6 billion.
Biogen Idec rallied 11 percent after raising its full-year forecast, while Intuitive Surgical jumped 18 percent as results topped estimates.
At first blush, Boeing’s numbers looked good; the aerospace giant earned $2.40 per share, easily beating estimates of $2 per share; the company lifted its earnings outlook for the rest of the year. Shares dropped about 2%. Revenue growth disappointed. Commercial airline sales were up less than expected; there was a substantial charge for a military tanker. Boeing is one of the dogs of the Dow – down 7% year to date.
Delta Air Lines said its second-quarter earnings were up 17%, driven by higher passenger and operating revenue as traffic increased. Delta has said it plans to reinvest about 50% of its operating cash flow back into the business, resulting in $2 billion to $3 billion of capital expenditures annually through 2018, with $2.3 billion planned for 2014.
Another day, another General Motors recall; the only difference is that today’s recall does not involve ignition switches; it is a problem with the seats. Today’s recalls total 717,950 vehicles covering six models; bring the total for the year to about 29 million. If you own a GM vehicle, call the dealer. The problem with ignition switches has not gone away, just today, it moved to Jeep-Chrysler, which announced nearly 800,000 vehicles would be recalled for ignition switch problems.
