Top 10 News Items 4/25-4/29: Bernanke Conducts First-Ever FOMC Press Briefing, Signals QE3 May Not Happen; Gold, Silver Continue to Charge Higher; Q1 US GDP Worse-Than-Expected
Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:
1. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke held the FOMC's first press briefing on Wednesday at 2:15pm following the release of the Fed rate decision at 12:30pm. Bernanke reiterated the Fed's view the US economic recovery will be gradual and also that inflation has crept higher recently. The keyword for the briefing was certainly "transitory," used more than several times by Bernanke to describe the latest bout of inflation.
2. Gold and silver continued meteoric runs this week. Gold rose almost 4 percent to close at $1,563 per ounce, while silver rallied 3.5 percent to close at $47.68. Gold has surged nearly 10 percent since the beginning of 2011.
3. The initial reading for US gross domestic product during the first quarter of 2011 came in worse-than-expected Thursday, showing consumers have recently pulled back on spending. The Commerce Department's measure of US growth fell from a final reading of 3.1 percent during the last quarter of 2010 to 1.8 percent. Economists had been expecting growth of 2 percent.
4. Shares of Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) plummeted by more than 14 percent on Friday following slashed quarterly guidance from the BlackBerry-maker Thursday night. Citing a shortfall in smartphone shipment volumes, RIM now sees Q1 EPS in the range of $1.30-$1.37, lower than the range of $1.47-$1.55 and the consensus of $1.48.
5. On the earnings front, the following companies reported results: Pepsi (NYSE: PEP), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Coke (NYSE: KO), UPS (NYSE: UPS), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), 3M (NYSE: MM), Ford (NYSE: F), Sprint (NYSE: S), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX).
6. Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported very strong quarterly results Friday: the manufacturer of construction equipment saw Q1 EPS surge by more than 400% from 36 cents during the same quarter last year to $1.84. Sales were also up sharply to $12.95 billion. Despite the solid report, CAT shares closed the session up a modest 2.5 percent.
7. The solar sector was hot Friday following news late Thursday that Total SA (NYSE: TOT) has reached an agreement to buy up to 60 percent of SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) for around $1.38 billion. This price values SunPower at about $2.3 billion. The stock rose over 40 percent on Friday, but closed the session up under 35 percent.
8. Shares of Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) fell by a total of 10 percent on Monday and Tuesday's trading sessions following news at the beginning of the week the company entered into an agreement for the acquisition of Equinox Minerals Limited for C$8.15 per share, or a total of approximately C$7.3 billion.
9. The number of US citizens initially filing for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, a development which suggests the sluggish recovery in the jobs market may take an even slower turn moving forward. Data from the Labor Department showed new applications for unemployment jumped 25,000 to 429,000 during the week ended April 23rd, the largest weekly reading since late-January. Economists had been expecting initial jobless claims of 395,000, what would have been a 9,000 job decline from an upwardly revised reading of 404,000 for the prior week.
10. Durable goods orders for March marked the third month in a row of gains and came in better-than-expected Wednesday. A reading of the U.S.'s longest-lasting products came in up 2.5 percent this morning, topping the economist estimate of 2.3 percent. The data point was a sharp improvement from an upwardly revised reading of 0.7 percent during the month of February.
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1. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke held the FOMC's first press briefing on Wednesday at 2:15pm following the release of the Fed rate decision at 12:30pm. Bernanke reiterated the Fed's view the US economic recovery will be gradual and also that inflation has crept higher recently. The keyword for the briefing was certainly "transitory," used more than several times by Bernanke to describe the latest bout of inflation.
2. Gold and silver continued meteoric runs this week. Gold rose almost 4 percent to close at $1,563 per ounce, while silver rallied 3.5 percent to close at $47.68. Gold has surged nearly 10 percent since the beginning of 2011.
3. The initial reading for US gross domestic product during the first quarter of 2011 came in worse-than-expected Thursday, showing consumers have recently pulled back on spending. The Commerce Department's measure of US growth fell from a final reading of 3.1 percent during the last quarter of 2010 to 1.8 percent. Economists had been expecting growth of 2 percent.
4. Shares of Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) plummeted by more than 14 percent on Friday following slashed quarterly guidance from the BlackBerry-maker Thursday night. Citing a shortfall in smartphone shipment volumes, RIM now sees Q1 EPS in the range of $1.30-$1.37, lower than the range of $1.47-$1.55 and the consensus of $1.48.
5. On the earnings front, the following companies reported results: Pepsi (NYSE: PEP), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Coke (NYSE: KO), UPS (NYSE: UPS), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), 3M (NYSE: MM), Ford (NYSE: F), Sprint (NYSE: S), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX).
6. Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported very strong quarterly results Friday: the manufacturer of construction equipment saw Q1 EPS surge by more than 400% from 36 cents during the same quarter last year to $1.84. Sales were also up sharply to $12.95 billion. Despite the solid report, CAT shares closed the session up a modest 2.5 percent.
7. The solar sector was hot Friday following news late Thursday that Total SA (NYSE: TOT) has reached an agreement to buy up to 60 percent of SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) for around $1.38 billion. This price values SunPower at about $2.3 billion. The stock rose over 40 percent on Friday, but closed the session up under 35 percent.
8. Shares of Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) fell by a total of 10 percent on Monday and Tuesday's trading sessions following news at the beginning of the week the company entered into an agreement for the acquisition of Equinox Minerals Limited for C$8.15 per share, or a total of approximately C$7.3 billion.
9. The number of US citizens initially filing for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, a development which suggests the sluggish recovery in the jobs market may take an even slower turn moving forward. Data from the Labor Department showed new applications for unemployment jumped 25,000 to 429,000 during the week ended April 23rd, the largest weekly reading since late-January. Economists had been expecting initial jobless claims of 395,000, what would have been a 9,000 job decline from an upwardly revised reading of 404,000 for the prior week.
10. Durable goods orders for March marked the third month in a row of gains and came in better-than-expected Wednesday. A reading of the U.S.'s longest-lasting products came in up 2.5 percent this morning, topping the economist estimate of 2.3 percent. The data point was a sharp improvement from an upwardly revised reading of 0.7 percent during the month of February.
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