The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would raise U.S. gasoline prices, according to the National Resources Defense Council: The pipeline would divert crude oil from the U.S. Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries geared to producing diesel fuel for export, which would reduce gasoline produced for U.S. consumers and raise production costs, making the fuel more expensive. [View news story]
Guns are selling like hotcakes: Smith & Wesson (SWHC) announces preliminary results for FQ4, saying sales were up 28% Y/Y to $129M - higher than the firm's guidance calling for $113M-$118M. Preliminary firearm order backlog increased 135% Y/Y and 121% Q/Q to approximately $439M. Shares +5.2% premarket. [View news story]
Mitt Romney may ban some kinds of guns,as he did as Governor or Mas.
Why the WTI-Brent spread is narrowing: A glut at Cushing pushed down WTI prices relative to Brent in recent years, but the spread has been narrowing as the key Seaway pipeline is being reversed and likely will narrow further as capacity is expanded. If oil prices stay at current levels or fall a bit more, Bill McBride thinks gasoline prices should drop further too. [View news story]
President Obama is working each day to lower the gasoline/diesel prices. His team has already had a positive effect on families.
The U.S. government in April enjoyed its first monthly budget surplus since Sept. 2008, with income tax-fueled revenue helping offset below-normal spending. It's mostly a quirk in the calendar: April 1 was on a Sunday, so payments scheduled for that day were pushed into March. The $59B surplus might buy the government a few extra days until it hits the $16.394T debt ceiling. [View news story]
The W. Bush recession was long and hard on everyone, now President Obama is leading the US as the worlds best economy.
More color on the Department of Homeland Security's warning of a sophisticated cyberattack intended to gain access to U.S. natural gas pipelines, raising concerns that vital infrastructure could be vulnerable to hackers. No clue about the source or motive is offered, but one possibility is an attempt to access information about flows to use in commodities trading. [View news story]
Look first at Tea Party,as the criminals behind this.
Sen. Barbara Boxer files a bill that would require car rental companies such as Hertz Global (HTZ -1.8%), Dollar Thrifty (DTG -1.3%), and Avis Budget (CAR -0.8%) to pull recalled cars from their fleets. A group representing the industry opposes the proposed legislation, saying companies already adopt conservative standards and don't need to be more highly regulated. [View news story]
Cars are recalled for serious safety reasons. No wonder GOP types are high school dropouts.
The EIA slashes its forecast for average gasoline prices during the summer driving period; instead of the $3.95/gallon estimate it put out in April, the agency now expects prices to average just $3.79 during April-September. The report marks the fifth straight weekly drop, and it helps ease fears U.S. prices will soon push above the $4 mark. [View news story]
Just weeks ago the conservative media was saying, $ 5.00 by early summer.
Ford (F -1.1%) says it will boost production this summer by trimming its summer shutdown to one week from the traditional two-week period. The move will allow the automaker to crank out another 40K vehicles and falls in line with its plan to increase annual production by 400K. [View news story]
President Obama saved millions of jobs,auto,retail,servi...
Francois Hollande has defeated Nicolas Sarkozy by a comfortable margin in the race for the French Presidency, reports Bloomberg, citing exit polls. It will put the Socialist party in power for the first time in 2 decades. Sarkozy's defeat makes him the 11th EU leader tossed from power since the sovereign debt crisis began. [View news story]
The next economic boom, writes Daniel Gross, will be created by the efficiencies unleashed by America's transition from an Ownership Society to a Rentership Society. It's not just housing - citizens are getting used to the flexibility of renting across a whole range of goods. "The U.S. economy needs the dynamism that renting enables as much as - if not more than - it needs the stability that ownership engenders." [View news story]
No more special tax cuts for the top 1%. President Obama is the few and proud American looking out for middle-class workers.
Shares of Caribou Coffee (CBOU) fall 17.9% in early trading after the firm lowers its outlook for revenue and profit in FY12. Behind the pain, it's weak single-cup coffee sales that paint a picture - along with GMCR - that consumers aren't changing their coffee-drinking habits at the pace anticipated. CBOU -30% for the week. [View news story]
Company CEO was Sara Palin, she was fired in March.
Expedia (EXPE +29%) is off to the races following its huge Q1 beat, driven by strong hotel bookings, and is lifting other online travel firms in the process: PCLN +3.8%. OWW +9.1%. TRIP +7.7%. TZOO +3.6%. JPMorgan is upgrading Expedia in response, while Deutsche (Hold) thinks management's reiteration of its 2012 EBITDA forecast is "conservative in light of building momentum." Benchmark (Hold) agrees, though it expects growth to decelerate in Q2. (transcript) [View news story]
And to think the GOP is doing everything possible to keep US workers down.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner lashes out at Mitt Romney's comments that he will improve U.S. trade relations with China by declaring the emerging giant a currency manipulator: "By just calling them a name? Like you can solve problems in the world, a very complicated world we live in, by calling people names?" [View news story]
Romney has made millions taking from average working Americans, while doing shady deals to help the already wealthy.
Economic recovery sign... or not? Travel on all U.S. roads rose 1.8% Y/Y in February, the Department of Transportation estimates, with total travel for the month at 216.1B vehicle miles. But even with the third straight month of Y/Y gains, miles driven has remained below the previous peak for a record 51 months and counting. [View news story]
Strong employment numbers each month equal more new cars and miles driven.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would raise U.S. gasoline prices, according to the National Resources Defense Council: The pipeline would divert crude oil from the U.S. Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries geared to producing diesel fuel for export, which would reduce gasoline produced for U.S. consumers and raise production costs, making the fuel more expensive. [View news story]
Guns are selling like hotcakes: Smith & Wesson (SWHC) announces preliminary results for FQ4, saying sales were up 28% Y/Y to $129M - higher than the firm's guidance calling for $113M-$118M. Preliminary firearm order backlog increased 135% Y/Y and 121% Q/Q to approximately $439M. Shares +5.2% premarket. [View news story]
Why the WTI-Brent spread is narrowing: A glut at Cushing pushed down WTI prices relative to Brent in recent years, but the spread has been narrowing as the key Seaway pipeline is being reversed and likely will narrow further as capacity is expanded. If oil prices stay at current levels or fall a bit more, Bill McBride thinks gasoline prices should drop further too. [View news story]
The U.S. government in April enjoyed its first monthly budget surplus since Sept. 2008, with income tax-fueled revenue helping offset below-normal spending. It's mostly a quirk in the calendar: April 1 was on a Sunday, so payments scheduled for that day were pushed into March. The $59B surplus might buy the government a few extra days until it hits the $16.394T debt ceiling. [View news story]
More color on the Department of Homeland Security's warning of a sophisticated cyberattack intended to gain access to U.S. natural gas pipelines, raising concerns that vital infrastructure could be vulnerable to hackers. No clue about the source or motive is offered, but one possibility is an attempt to access information about flows to use in commodities trading. [View news story]
Sen. Barbara Boxer files a bill that would require car rental companies such as Hertz Global (HTZ -1.8%), Dollar Thrifty (DTG -1.3%), and Avis Budget (CAR -0.8%) to pull recalled cars from their fleets. A group representing the industry opposes the proposed legislation, saying companies already adopt conservative standards and don't need to be more highly regulated. [View news story]
The EIA slashes its forecast for average gasoline prices during the summer driving period; instead of the $3.95/gallon estimate it put out in April, the agency now expects prices to average just $3.79 during April-September. The report marks the fifth straight weekly drop, and it helps ease fears U.S. prices will soon push above the $4 mark. [View news story]
One reason the unemployment rate may have remained persistently high: the sharp cuts in state and local government spending, and the layoffs those cuts wrought. If there were as many people working in government as there were in Dec. 2008, the unemployment rate in April would have been 7.1%, not 8.1%. [View news story]
Ford (F -1.1%) says it will boost production this summer by trimming its summer shutdown to one week from the traditional two-week period. The move will allow the automaker to crank out another 40K vehicles and falls in line with its plan to increase annual production by 400K. [View news story]
Francois Hollande has defeated Nicolas Sarkozy by a comfortable margin in the race for the French Presidency, reports Bloomberg, citing exit polls. It will put the Socialist party in power for the first time in 2 decades. Sarkozy's defeat makes him the 11th EU leader tossed from power since the sovereign debt crisis began. [View news story]
The next economic boom, writes Daniel Gross, will be created by the efficiencies unleashed by America's transition from an Ownership Society to a Rentership Society. It's not just housing - citizens are getting used to the flexibility of renting across a whole range of goods. "The U.S. economy needs the dynamism that renting enables as much as - if not more than - it needs the stability that ownership engenders." [View news story]
Shares of Caribou Coffee (CBOU) fall 17.9% in early trading after the firm lowers its outlook for revenue and profit in FY12. Behind the pain, it's weak single-cup coffee sales that paint a picture - along with GMCR - that consumers aren't changing their coffee-drinking habits at the pace anticipated. CBOU -30% for the week. [View news story]
Expedia (EXPE +29%) is off to the races following its huge Q1 beat, driven by strong hotel bookings, and is lifting other online travel firms in the process: PCLN +3.8%. OWW +9.1%. TRIP +7.7%. TZOO +3.6%. JPMorgan is upgrading Expedia in response, while Deutsche (Hold) thinks management's reiteration of its 2012 EBITDA forecast is "conservative in light of building momentum." Benchmark (Hold) agrees, though it expects growth to decelerate in Q2. (transcript) [View news story]
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner lashes out at Mitt Romney's comments that he will improve U.S. trade relations with China by declaring the emerging giant a currency manipulator: "By just calling them a name? Like you can solve problems in the world, a very complicated world we live in, by calling people names?" [View news story]
Economic recovery sign... or not? Travel on all U.S. roads rose 1.8% Y/Y in February, the Department of Transportation estimates, with total travel for the month at 216.1B vehicle miles. But even with the third straight month of Y/Y gains, miles driven has remained below the previous peak for a record 51 months and counting. [View news story]