who to blame this time?
Goldman Sachs (GS 180.35, -1.74) earned $4.58 per share in the second quarter, a dip from the previous year but blowing past estimates by 34%. Despite the better-than-expected results, Goldman's stock is down 1%. Considering that Goldman rallied 12% in the three sessions leading up to its report, it can be said the market got what it expected -- which is limiting the report's impact on the broader market.
Financials (-2.0%) are underperforming, with notable weakness within regional banks (-4.8%) on cautious brokerage comments and renewed fears the worst is yet to come.
Shares of Best Buy (BBY 44.08, -1.79) spiked higher in premarket trading after the retailer reported better-than-expected earnings, but shares have turned south in regular trading. As a result, the stock is the worst-performing name within the S&P 500 Retailing Index (-1.3%).
Economic news was mixed. May PPI rose by a higher-than-expected amount due to the spike in energy prices. However, core PPI -- which excludes food and energy -- was in-line with estimates -- as weak consumer demand has limited the ability of producers to raise prices. The year-over-year increase in PPI is now 7.2%. The year-over-year increase in the core rate is 3.0%.
Separately, the housing industry is still depressed, but the pace of declines in housing starts is slowing -- which is a positive for the construction spending portion of GDP forecasts. Housing starts fell 3.3% from the prior month and building permits dipped 1.3%.
Industrial production in May dipped by a larger-than-expected amount, but the slowdown is still not near the levels during the 2001 recession. Specifically, production declined 0.2% from the prior month, which was worse the forecast of a 0.1% increase. Capacity utilization dipped 0.2% to 79.4%.
In Treasury trading, the long end of the curve saw a boost on reports that the Fed is unlikely to raise the Fed funds rates before autumn. The 10 year note is up 16 ticks, pushing its yield down to 4.20%.DJ30 -75.15 NASDAQ -7.05 SP500 -4.67 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1631/1084/810 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1611/1337/428 mln
My posting is for my own entertainment, do your own DD before pushing your buy/call button
