Via ConvergEx's Nick Colas,
Tell me truthfully: do you actually get a lot of value from quarterly earnings reports? It’s not actually me asking; it is the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NIRI trade group, the most influential group of Investor Relations professionals in U.S. markets.
Last week the SEC published a concept release that seeks public input on a range of issues, perhaps most notably quarterly financial reporting for public companies.
For the latest indication of how bad the recession in the US sector field is, we took a look at last night's Schlumberger results which were modestly better than expected, beating expectations of $0.37 by one cent, however as usual the non-GAAP adjusted bottom line did not tell the full story. The Company's net income plunged nearly 50%, to $501 million, or 40 cents a share, from $975 million, or 76 cents, a year earlier.
Kuroda, we have a problem. Following rumors overnight, USDJPY is obedinetly being bid (Yen weaker), with its biggest day since January and pushing above 111 (highest in 3 weeks). Normally this would be all the US equity needed to spike ignorantly to new highs... but it's not...
Standard 200 pip vertical ram on nothing but rumors... but stocks ain't buying it...
Not even the power of Central Bank visible hand can trump a collapse in earnings from US mega caps.
Submitted by David Stockman via Contra Corner blog,
Mario had a bee in his bonnet yesterday morning. Apparently, the chorus of German voices pointing to the obvious—- that his policies are killing savers, insurance companies, pension funds and banks—-got his dander up:
“We have a mandate to preserve price stability for the whole of the euro zone, not only for Germany,” he said. “We obey the law, not the politicians, because we are independent.”
Greece was supposed to finalize a deal today with its lenders whereby in exchange for an "agreement" to implement already agreed upon budget cuts it would receive more funds from the Troika. However, as Reuters reports, "there will be no deal between Greece and its lenders on Friday that would unlock loans and enable vital debt relief talks, despite some progress on the reforms Athens must implement in exchange, euro zone and IMF officials said on Friday."