SKY News Summary 03-02-2010
The data being released for the month of February shows the influence of major snow storms around the country. These numbers should make March numbers look great. The January numbers, however, seem to indicate slow improvement.
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs chain store sales index for the week ending February 27 declined by 0.8% on a week-over-week basis, but rose by 0.7% on a year-over-year basis. Given that most of the New England was covered in snow and without power, that number looks pretty good.
http://www.icsc.org/homepage/research_article.php?id=111
On March 5, the Labor Department will release the employment report for the month of February. The report however, is based on the pay period that includes February 12 and is usually just one-week’s worth of data. The week of February 12th, the nation was buried in snow which may significantly skew the “monthly” employment situation report.
http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesprog.htm#Reference_Period
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/events/?event=20100210
The Department of Commerce released January’s construction spending figures which showed a decline of 0.6 percent in total construction spending. The weakness, however, is in private nonresidential spending which dropped 2.1 percent. Private residential construction was actually up by 0.6 percent as was public highway construction, up 1.2 percent from December. It is interesting to note that, in January, total public construction spending was $306.9 billion, while total private construction spending was $577.3 billion.
http://www.census.gov/const/C30/release.pdf
Personal income increased $11.4 billion, or 0.1 percent, in January according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $47.6 billion, or 0.4 percent reflecting an increase in federal income taxes. Farm wages (which dropped $7.9 billion, in contrast to an increase of $5.9 billion in December), rental income (which decreased $0.9 billion in January, in contrast to an increase of $1.9 billion in December), and investment income (which decreased $20.8 billion, in contrast to an increase of $11.0 billion) were partially offset by contributions for government social insurance which increased $16.7 billion in January, compared with an increase of $0.3 billion in December. Employer contributions were boosted by $10.2 billion in January by increases in unemployment-insurance rates. Personal saving — DPI less personal outlays — was $367.2 billion in January, compared with $467.9 billion in December. Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was 3.3 percent in January, compared with 4.2 percent in December.
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/2010/pi0110.htm
The ISM Manufacturing Survey shows a slight decline in new export and import orders, but a strong increase in backlog of orders which may indicate a rise in employment in the coming months. Backlog of orders rose from 56.0 to 61.0 in February.
http://www.ism.ws/ISMReport/MfgROB.cfm
Applied Materials 1Q2010
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/investors/assets/1Q10fin_web.pdf
CBS FY 2009
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzIyNDZ8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
Nestle FY 2009
http://www.nestle.com/Resource.axd?Id=4EF5E333-11BC-47A5-A1A0-754E8257559E
Target
http://investors.target.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=65828&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1394056&highlight=
Medtronic
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzI1OTZ8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
Warren Buffett’s Chairman’s letter is always interesting to read:
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2009ar/2009ar.pdf
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Berkshire Hathaway, Masco, Medtronic, Target, CBI, Nestle, CBS, Applied Materials, NOAA, ICSC-Goldman Sachs, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce, and ISM Manufacturing websites.
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