The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Commission has released the latest report on Traffic Volume Trends, data through September. Travel on all roads and streets changed by 2.3% (5.6 billion vehicle miles) for September 2014 as compared with September 2013 (see report). The less volatile 12-month moving average is up 0.19% month-over-month. If we factor in population growth,…
Fourth quarter revenues of $290.0 million, up 4.1% compared to prior year, or up 4.0% constant currency*. Fiscal 2014 increased 6.3%, or 3.9% constant currency*. Fourth quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.76 on a GAAP reported basis compared to $0.65 in the prior year. Fourth quarter non-GAAP adjusted EPS* of $0.93, up 14.3% compared to…
OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ14 +0.69%) this morning are up +0.65% at a record high and European stocks are up +2.03% at a 1-1/2 month high after China cut interest rates for the first time in over 2 years. European stocks and government bonds received an additional boost after ECB President Draghi…
More free money!!! Europe is up 2% with no signs of slowing at lunch as Mario Draghi kicks it up a notch, saying the ECB is ready to “step up the pressure ” and expand its asset-purchase programs if inflation fails to show signs of quickly returning to the ECB’s target. BAM!!! “We will continue to meet our…
Recent polls show pro-default parties growing popular in peripheral euro-area countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain. As Bloomberg Brief’s Maxime Sbaihi notes, in a depressed economic environment, their promises to restructure public debt might soon bring them to power and tempt traditional parties to adopt their ideas. This return of political risk in the…
Click on picture to enlarge 34 days ago the S&P 500 was up 2% on the year and the German Index (DAX) was down almost 6%. At that time Joe Friday shared that the DAX appeared to be sending a bullish message to global stock markets, as it looked to be creating a bullish wick…
Here is a statement of the obvious if there ever was one: The market doesn’t always do what it’s supposed to. Expensive markets are supposed to correct, and cheap markets are supposed to rally as both revert to their long-term averages. But there are long stretches of time where expensive markets get even more expensive and cheap markets get even cheaper….
Official comments have injected volatility into the foreign exchange market. As we anticipated, Japanese officials pushed back against the seemingly free-fall in the yen sparked by the aggressive BOJ action and the diversification of the government pension funds. Finance Minister Aso expressed concern about the pace of the yen’s decline. However, comments by Abe-adviser Hamada underscored…
Paul Krugman seems to be having a supply-side-economics moment… sort of. Raising taxes, the NY Times columnist and Nobel laureate has been arguing lately, threatens Japan’s fragile economic recovery. “Shinzo Abe is doing the right thing, seeking to delay the next rise in consumption taxes,” Krugman wrote on his blog yesterday. “This is good economic policy….” It’s…
Japan’s yen rose for the first time in seven days as Finance Minister Taro Aso said its decline has been too fast. Most Asian stocks fell, with the regional index headed to its biggest weekly retreat since mid-October, while crude oil climbed for a second day. The yen added 0.4 percent to 117.77 per dollar…
