The tobacco industry has long been a source of exceptional shareholder returns. In some ways, this is not surprising. The economics of selling cigarettes and other tobacco products are highly attractive. I’ll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It cost a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It’s addictive. And there’s a fantastic brand loyalty. – Warren Buffett Philip Morris International (PM) – along with its sister company Altria (MO) – is considered one the ‘best of the best’ of the tobacco industry. The company has been operating in some shape since 1847 and currently has a dividend yield of 3.5%. These c...
The TED spread is something a lot of people were seemingly worried about a few months ago – at least that bearish crowd that provide the public service of perpetual warnings. You wont hear them anymore, by contrast, saying how good things are now that the TED spread has fallen to the low end of the range. Indeed, the comments that “the Ted spread is dead” come to mind. It goes to show that you need to take the various internet commenters with a grain of salt (indeed, even this one!). Similarly bank CDS were also apparently a harbinger of the end times, yet from the highs they have contracted. It again is a cautiona...
For the second part of my “Canadian Telecoms on the radar”, I’m taking a look at Rogers Communications (RCI). The company rid the market this year with +27% as at July 22nd 2017. Is it too much? Is it too late to pick this gem? Let’s dig deeper to find out! Rogers Communications has adapted since its creation to offer the services and technology its clients were looking for. It started with radio broadcasting, added television and internet services, and now has a predominant wireless business segment: Source: RCI 2016 annual report Revenue Revenue Graph from Ycharts Rogers has shown a very strong revenue progression since 2008. The ...
Crude oil prices continued to rise as Kuwait pledged to join Saudi Arabia and the UAE in cutting output further while API said US fuel consumption for June surged to highest level in a decade. Second-quarter earnings reports from Baker Hughes, Chevron and Exxon Mobil are now in focus. Traders will look to forward guidance from the industry heavyweights to inform expectations for supply and demand trends. With that said, yesterday’s offering from big names including ConocoPhilips, Valero and Marathon produced mixed results and didn’t seem to have a discrete impact on price action. Gold prices edged lower as upbeat US economic d...
After falling on Carney’s dovishness and rising on his newly found hawkishness, the pound will face Carney once again, this time at the “Super Thursday” meeting on August 3rd. What can we expect? Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews: CIBC FX Strategy Research notes that the August 3rd BoE policy meeting will again manifest divergent opinions in a split MPC vote. “However, with external member Kristin Forbes being replaced by the seemingly more dovish Silvana Tenreyro, only two clear hawks remain on the committee. Notwithstanding Chief Economist Andy Haldane’s comments about potentially voting for a hike before the end of the y...
Podcast: Play in new window | Play in new window (Duration: 13:05 — 7.5MB) DOW + 85 = 21,796 SPX – 2 = 2475 NAS – 40 = 6382 RUT – 8 = 1433 10 Y + .03 = 2.31% OIL + .08 = 49.12 GOLD – 1.50 = 1259.60 BITCOIN + 0.73% = 2717.16 USD ETHEREUM – 0.07% = 204.20 The major stock indexes moved to all-time intraday highs, only the Dow held on for a record close. The Dow Jones transportation Average dropped to its lowest level in nearly two months, with UPS offering a weak outlook and FedEx (FDX) falling in tandem. Volume was heavy yesterday. The Nasdaq Composite and the Nasdaq 100 or QQQ just fell off a cliff around midday. With a higher ...
Asian indices are pressured today as the dollar firmed overnight and as investors looked ahead to more corporate earnings due during the session. The Shanghai Composite is off 0.04% while the Hang Seng is down 0.51%. The Nikkei 225 is trading lower by 0.42%. US equities traded higher on Thursday as the tech sector was lifted by strong earnings. Back home, share markets in India have opened the day on a negative note. The BSE Sensex is trading lower by 173 points while the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 24 points. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap index both opened the day down by 0.3%. Barring consumer durables stocks, FMCG st...
Energy equipment maker National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV – Free Report) reported second-quarter 2017 loss per share (excluding one-time items) of 14 cents which was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, the bottom line compared favorably with the year-ago quarter adjusted loss of 30 cents. Aggressive cost cutting-initiatives and improved efficiencies along with an uptick of activities in the North American land market led to better results Second-quarter revenues of $1,759 million increased from $1,724 million a year ago but narrowly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,760 million. National Oilwell Varco, Inc. Price...
When it comes to steady dividend growth, dividend kings, 22 companies that have raised payouts for 50+ consecutive years, are standouts that generally mark a great place to start shopping for long-term income investments. However, a problem that many dividend growth investors have is that most dividend kings are very slow growing companies with equally slow rising payouts. Lowe’s Companies (LOW) is an exception with not only an impressive record of 54 straight years of increasing payouts, but also one of this group’s fastest dividend growth rates, 17.6% per year over the last three decades. Better yet, Lowe’s appears to be well-posit...
Durable goods orders were up a seasonally-adjusted 6.5% in the month of June 2017. Nearly all of that gain, however, was due to a jump (131%) in new orders for civilian aircraft. That meant demand for transportation equipment, a highly volatile segment, rose 19% in the month. Excluding all that, durable goods were up just 0.2% month-over-month. Sentiment indicators like the ISM Manufacturing PMI suggest ebullient conditions that just aren’t matched by activity levels. Halfway through 2017, that shouldn’t any longer be the case. You can understand some lingering problems especially given the nature of the downturn/manufacturing recession, ...