Five Q4 Earnings Reports To Watch
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jan2009/pi20090113_601276.htm
Results and outlooks from JPMorgan, Caterpillar, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Exxon Mobil will set the tone for corporate profits in the coming months
By Ben Steverman
A torrent of earnings news begins hitting investors this week, giving them key information about what was perhaps the toughest quarter for U.S. companies in a generation.
According to Thomson Reuters (TRI ), analysts expect earnings for companies in the S&P 500-stock index to fall 15.1% in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the previous year.
But there are plenty of questions about those forecasts, especially during such a rocky economic environment. Investors won’t really know how U.S. businesses are holding up until earnings results arrive in the next few weeks. They will want to scrutinize detailed quarterly results and hear executives talk about their 2009 forecasts.
Alcoa (AA ) officially kicked off earnings season Jan. 12 with its results, and they weren’t pretty. Here are five companies to watch in the coming weeks:
1. JPMorgan Chase (JPM )
JPMorgan surprised investors Jan. 13 by saying its fourth-quarter results would be released six days early, on Jan. 15. It’s hard to interpret that move, but the bank’s stock moved […]
Zero: Alan Greenspan
CNNMoney.com has dubbed Greenspan one of the “zeros” of 2008!
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0812/gallery.heroes_zeros_2008/8.html
Bill Rutherford Quoted In Dow Jones
Consumer Staples, Health Care Seen As Recessionary Havens
by Mary Ellen Lloyd, Dow Jones Newswires; 704-948-9145; maryellen.lloyd@dowjones.com
A year into the U.S. recession, the smart money on Wall Street says traditionally defensive sectors such as consumer staples, health care and telecommunications remain among the best bets.
That’s because it is businesses like drugstores, food producers, managed-care companies, and beer and cigarette makers that tend to do well despite tough economic times, according to several market strategists, money managers, economists and fund data managers.
“You’re dealing with industries and companies that provide necessities – everything from toothpaste to stents to pharmaceuticals to cereal,” said Brian Belski, Merrill Lynch’s U.S. sector strategist.
And some not-so-basic items can feel like necessary luxuries for folks during times of stress. “People tend to drink and smoke more during recessions and slowing times in the economy and the stock market,” Belski said. […]
4th Quarter 2008
Rutherford Investment Management, LLC
Newsletter: 4th Quarter 2008
Year End Recap 2008
It is no secret; so by now you know that 2008 was the worst year since 1937 which by itself was the worst year since the great depression. The S&P index was down 37% on the year, most of it coming in the last three months…. Download Newsletter
Pre-Market Report
The market has taken a sharp tumble in the past few days. The S&P has closed at its lowest point since April 14, 1997. This brings the average Large Cap Growth manager and Multicap Growth manager down about 50% on the year. (We are beating the markets)
The economic news is grim and the Fed believes the recession, which they now recognize, will last into the first half of next year. Others think the recession will last longer. Historically the market has turned up about six months in advance of the end of the recession.
Markets are also suffering a lack of confidence. We have one president with his bags packed and another yet to assert himself. Obama should act now, or face much tougher problems when he takes office. Treasury Secretary Paulson seems to have a new game plan each day, so it is no wonder that investors are confused.
Is this the end of the world as we know it? Not likely. Government regulation, and involvement in business will grow, but the economy will recover. So far the government has thrown (literally) about 2 Trillion dollars at this problem. We have seen some results-credit markets are starting to work again-but not […]
Bill Rutherford Quoted In Business Week
Inside Wall Street: Bring on the Cranes and Road Graders by Gene Marcial
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_48/c4110insidewal446718.htm
The Dow Jones industrial average has plunged some 41% since its record close at 14,164 on Oct. 9, 2007—for a $1.7 trillion loss in market capitalization. And the broader Dow Jones Wilshire 5000-stock index has lost 46%, or $9.1 trillion. The huge sell-off is causing some strategists to figure that the market has already priced in a recession. Not only that, “it also has posted the worst performance entering a recession in over 60 years,” notes Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial. While volatility is likely to continue, history suggests additional significant downside is unlikely. “The stage is set for an eventual recovery, led by the early cyclical sectors,” predicts Kleintop. It’s well-known, he adds, that powerful gains in the stock market come well before the end of a recession. […]