Blue Light Special
Lots of earnings reports are coming in this afternoon, no surprise downsides with largely meeting or exceeding expectations. The story of companies beating the street is getting rather old because it is happening everyday.
Today however, there was a first quarters earnings report that I would never have expected. It came from Sears, owner of K-Mart.
First the street expectation;
Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a quarterly loss of 88 cents a share
I could have believed that projection. Sears and K-Mart are last on my list of places to shop. In Sears you have to figure out where to pay for things and at K-Mart they only seem to have one register open.
Well, the good people at the Sears Companies are doing a whole lot of things right because they knocked the ball out of the park.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Sears Holdings Corp. said late Thursday that it swung to a first-quarter profit of $26 million, or 21 cents a share, from a loss of $56 million, or 43 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the retailer would have reported earnings of 38 cents a share for the latest quarter.
This is one of those things that make you go, wow.
I believe a lot of the first quarter surprises on the upside are because of what President Bush did last fall in preventing a total collapse. But this report from Sears was beyond that, every employee “earned” their pay for the quarter.
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May 21st, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Jobless Claims Set Another Record…
CBO: Unemployment will keep rising through 2010…
Michigan rate reaches 12.9%…
Feds give $50M in aid to towns hit by auto layoffs…
Michael Moore targeting economic crisis…
Fed Could Buy More Debt; Central bankers consider adding to Treasury, mortgage red…
Greenspan: Crisis Yet to End…
Dems to introduce ‘Paid Vacation Act’…
Britain’s debt outlook lowered to negative…
Day of reckoning for US dollar…
As the Memorial Day weekend and summer driving season approach, motorists are facing a familiar trend — surging gasoline prices.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks closed sharply lower Thursday as optimism about a global economic recovery was tempered by mixed data and a potential downgrade of the United Kingdom’s credit rating.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), fell 130 points, or 1.5%, marking the third straight loss for the blue-chip measure. The S&P 500 (SPX) index dropped 15 points to close 1.7% lower and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 1.9%.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Federal Reserve’s latest forecasts for the U.S. economy are gloomier than the ones released three months earlier, with an expectation for higher unemployment and a steeper drop in economic activity.
Losers for today
GameStop Corp. (GME: 22.39, -4.08, -15.41%)
Yearly profit outlook fell below analysts’ estimates, sending shares of the video game retailer down 15.5% on Thursday. GME last traded at $22.38, a loss of $4.09 on the day.
Regions Financial Corp. (RF: 4.15, -0.7, -14.43%)
Goldman Sachs upgrade on large banks didn’t help the smaller Regions Financial, which is trying to raise nearly $2 billion in new capital through a common stock offering. Shares fell16.2%, or 79 cents, to $4.10 a share.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN: 4.29, -0.53, -11%)
Capital concerns in the sector sent HBAN shares down 11%, or 53 cents. The stock ended at $4.29 on Thursday.
Patterson Cos. Inc. (PDCO: 20.18, -2.39, -10.59%)
Weak 2010 guidance helped sink shares of the veterinary and dental supplies manufacturer by 10.7%. PDCO closed down $2.42 at $20.15 a share.
Fifth Third Bancorp. (FITB: 6.95, -0.76, -9.86%)
Another regional closing down during trading Thursday, FITB lost 10.1%, or 78 cents, to settle at $6.93.
[My central thesis is that the economy is improving. I base this on the long accepted premise that the equity markets are a leading economic indicator. How do I know that the equity markets are improving? First, the markets have greatly improved since the exact day of a POLITICAL declaration of a bear market. Why have they improved? They have improved because companies are reporting financial results better than anyone expected.
When the markets were at the top, the right side of the aisle said stop talking down the economy. Frankly, that was a disservice because it encouraged people to jump in because of POLITICAL EMOTIONS.
When the markets were at the bottom, the right side of the aisle said it is going to get worse, get out while you can. Again a disservice because it encouraged people to bail because of POLITICAL EMOTIONS.
OL]
May 21st, 2009 at 3:19 pm
It’s never been something I like to eat but if I had any money I’d invest in Kentucky Fried Chicken. I just got back from London and there was one on every street — they’re especially popular in the more poorer/immigrant areas — just as they are in New York City. Also, I happened to read an article about how KFC is wildly popular in Japan and has even become a food they have on a certain holiday.
I’m guessing that (as long as the company is run competently) brand name, inexpensive food and clothing are probably some of the best best right now.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I saw an online article that said Kmart once earned $160+ million in one year so the company still has some work to do to catch up to that standard.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I made a mistake earlier:
I saw an online article that said Kmart alone once earned $160+ million in one quarter before so the company still has some work to do to catch up to that standard.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Oak,
Bush no more saved the economy with his bailouts last year no more than he saved GM and Chrysler last year with their bailouts. All that these bailouts has done is to cause us to accumulate more debt. Any apparent uptick to the economy is just an illusion. Bernanke’s printing presses are simply papering over the poor fundamentals of our economy. In doing so, he setting us up for an even harder fall than what we have just experienced. The consequences of the Fed’s poor monetary policy will be apparent when high or hyper inflation hits. When this does occur, please promise to remain here and remind everyone about the poor judgement that you have shown. The same can not be said regarding your position on the surge or auto bailouts. So far Oak you are batting 0.000.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Plus I wonder how many accounting dimmicks are in these financial statemetns since tha financial industry caught fudging the numbers earlier this year?
May 21st, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Dow Jones went down 1.5?% today:
http://money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow/
May 21st, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Nice to see Cheney handing Obama his proverbial ass on national security issues today.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Oak Leaf:
“I believe a lot of the first quarter surprises on the upside are because of what President Bush did last fall”
Inaccurate,
A lot of first quarter surprises are the result of companies low balling their revenue/earnings estimates.
Go back to sleep, bub.
Ken
Dallas
May 21st, 2009 at 5:58 pm
The world is turning, and Oak Leaf is quietly going totally insane. I wonder if he whistles past graveyards much.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I wonder if Oak Leaf’s real name is John Podesta..
May 21st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I wonder if Oak Leaf’s mentor Pat Buchanan thinks the economy is in great shape.
Do him proud, you liberal moron!
May 21st, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Dollar Is Dirt, Treasuries Are Toast, AAA Is Gone
May 21st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
And 6.6 million people are filing unemployment claims and the emperor with no clothes is giving GM another 7.6 billion.
Oh, and consumer spending is falling and new home starts are at the lowest level ever recorded.
But the band is still playing on Titanic…
May 21st, 2009 at 6:26 pm
First came the banks and insurance companies. Then the auto industry. Now, with California on the verge of financial collapse, state leaders are demanding an unprecedented federal rescue of their own.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Heh, stock markets starting to slide, U.S. fiatsco faltering, buggy whips rising precipitously, U.S. Treasuries taking a pounding, unemployment continuing to climb, Fannie and Freddie once again flailing about.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:37 pm
K Mart! K Mart! K Mart will save the economy! You bastards better believe!
May 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm
More harpoons in Oak Leaf every day. Soon he will spout blood and sink to the bottom.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:06 pm
This is one of those things that make you go, wow.
wow!
May 21st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
The impetulant man child president is so desperate & insecure in himself while flailing about that he even feels the need to go after his own VP for simply being himself. Obomba was so full of the ol’ ego (still is, to be sure) that he failed to notice Joe’s meanderings before selecting ol’ sloe joe for #2.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Alex Jones interviews Rand Paul
Skip to minute 4:10 so you don’t have to hear his pepper spray advertisements.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:39 pm
and here’s part 4
May 21st, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Rand Paul definitely needs to start fundraising more because this Greyson guy seems to be intent on running the Kentucky GOP are lining up.
Trey Grayson, a former Democrat and Clinton delegate, puts big name Republicans on his finance committee
“Major players in the Kentucky Republican Party machine appear to be lining up behind Grayson. According to the article, many of these big name fundraisers supported Bunning in the past. Rand welcomes the competition and looks forward to a tough fight. One thing is certain: those who underestimate Rand may be in for a big surprise.”
May 21st, 2009 at 9:06 pm
More bank seizures this year already compare to all of last year.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090522/bs_nm/us_bankunited
Yep the economy is just roaring along.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:33 pm
OL — You certainly take a lot of heat here.
While I read your optimism on the economy, all you have to do is go to Drudge and see all the offerings there dealing with unemployment in Michigan, predictions that there won’t be an upturn until well into 2010 — basically all the revelations that MI posted at the beginning of this thread.
As far as Sears doing so well…that is great! However, one might say this is more a result of a shifting to lower-end retail stores because of a poor economy. They are now the ones harvesting the benefits of our recession, and people trying to stretch their earning power. If this is the case I wouldn’t call it a sign of a turnaround, just a by-product of more money-conscious people.
[Again thank you. Drudge has a political agenda and that is to throw the most sensational items on his site to further his political agenda and get hits. The Sears item burned up the financial news last night and not a peep out of Drudge, why? He could have used it with his M.O. Instead of a red siren he could have had a flashing blue light.
Most of what I post is simply what comes off the financial news ticker.
I go back to what has occurred in every financial cycle. On the way down, downward earnings surprises start popping through. People deny it and say the economy is just great. (Sound familiar) On the way up, upward surprises start popping through. People deny it and say its THE depression.
OL]
[One more thing. In the "old days" I used to bitch about people who I called liberals that lived for the day and never saved for retirement, who would become dependent on people like me who do save and take care of their families. I now need to add another classification to that. Those that are so paranoid that they are investing their retirement in blocks of ammo and will not invest and save. A few years ago, those same people (me too) praised private social security accounts. Now they want nothing to do with private savings. I have learned that being a leech is not limited to plitical ideology. OL
May 21st, 2009 at 10:46 pm
OL — You certainly take a lot of heat here.
None unwarranted.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:55 pm
I’ve always been somewhat leery of facebook. This is quite the conspiracy theory.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:21 pm
This is what the donkeys give us – a piate who thinks that he is innocent. Yea right and there’s 60 states in the Union according to the Annointed One. This is why we have nonsense in the courts nowadays since lawyers will claim anything in court even if the person can be indentified.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090522/NATION/905220371/1020/Somali-teen-pleads-not-guilty-to-piracy
May 21st, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Good analysis of libs
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:46 am
Drudge has a political agenda and that is to throw the most sensational items on his site to further his political agenda and get hits.——Oak Leaf.
Now it is my turn…..Oak Leaf has a political agenda and throws the most sensational items in his posts to further his political agenda and get hits.
Perhaps Drudge has an agenda. If you click on his stories they go to Politico, AP, Reuters, Breitert and other media. Not all the items I quoted in my post above came from Drudge. In fact some came from CNN website.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:45 am
When people write things like “Drudge has a political agenda”,you know they are libs.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:50 am
This IS HILARIOUS!!! From Todays Wall Street Journal!!!!!!! Notice Dillards and Sears mentioned!!!!
By KRIS HUDSON and VANESSA O’CONNELL
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Malls, those ubiquitous shopping meccas that sprang up in the 1950s, are dwindling in number, with many struggling properties reduced to largely vacant shells.
On the low-income east side of Charlotte, N.C., the 1.1-million-square-foot Eastland Mall recently lost a slew of key tenants, including a Dillard’s and, next month, a Sears. Sales per square foot at the venue fell to $210 in 2008 from $288 in 2001.
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
California Cities Irked by Borrowing Plan…
Florida’s BANKUNITED Fails; Year’s Biggest Bust…
Recession Turns Malls Into Ghost Towns…
Dollar Falls…
Fed President Says Inflation to Increase…
GM Bankruptcy: As Early As Next Week…
*Republican lawmakers slam restructuring plan…
Ohio Unemployment Rate Exceeded 10%…
——————————————————————————-
Well, Oak, if we are on our way to recovery, then you get the prize for optimism. Hope you’re right -for the sake of our country. But with headlines like these, pointing to long term distress….well, I’m not quite persuaded yet. I’d hate to see what a recession looks like if we’re in a recovery.
Of course, those are Drudge headlines, and he has a political agenda. Those couldn’t in fact – be facts…or could they?
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:25 am
Oak Leaf if that is your standard, then anyone with a political webiste has an agaenda plus everyone knows that the media is very biased as well and has a hidden agaenda. Even google and yahoo has poliitical agendas since you seem to be into this.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Dollar in collapse, more job losses, Obama as Fascist in Chief, and Oak now says those stockpiling ammo are the leeches of society?
We know Obama is a gun grabber, we know he has proposed massive ammo taxes and weapon bans, we know the country is in a steep slide, we know that we may need personal defense, and it will not be cheaper or easier to obtain than now.
And for that we are leeches. For taking steps to ensure our safety and self sufficiency, and that of our families and neighbors, we are leaches.
Oak, you are quickly becoming far worse than just crazy. And you top that off by proclaiming us guilty of political emotion?
that’s not irony or anything. I am past feeling sorry for you. You’re a mad dog at this point.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I’ll be curious to see how long Oak keeps up his pretense that the economy is improving, or that he really went all in in March like he says.
In 3 months, he might still be blathering about recovery, but in 6 months he sure won’t.
I’m sure once he finally realizes he’s full of it, he will start blaming conservatives for being too partisan to participate in Obama’s new Fascism.
It will be our fault for buying ammo and seeds, and spare tires and fencing, and metals, instead of Treasuries to keep Obama spending.
Right Oak, you bastard?
May 23rd, 2009 at 1:43 am
Don’t be such an ingrate.
That’s Colonel Bastard, sir!
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:16 am
Credit Crisis Indicators:
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/05/credit-crisis-indicators_22.html