The problem is that instead of having one way to calculate corporate earnings that everybody understands, we have two or three methods. And the one that most people use, there is virtually no agreement at all about what it means. |
The second quarter was clearly a soft quarter, there was a lot of weakness in manufacturing. I think we'll see a rebound but it won't show up until the August numbers. Getting GM back to work will be a big plus in getting things going again. |
The stock market reaction, if they cut a quarter point, probably will be as much a yawn as anything else. If the Fed would go for half a point, which is within the realm of possibility, I think it would get a positive reaction. |
The stock market suggests that there is fantastic bullish sentiment -- everybody feels good, looks good, thinks wonderfully of this economy, and indeed it is very difficult to say anything wrong about this economy, |
The stock market suggests that there is fantastic bullish sentiment -- everybody feels good, looks good, thinks wonderfully of this economy, and indeed it is very difficult to say anything wrong about this economy. |
There is truth to the fact that competition and markets are more global, especially in the U.S., where being protective of the home company is a little less fashionable than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Merging provides a role for these folks and makes them a surviving entity. |
There's no inflation, |
There's not a lot of pricing flexibility, there is a little more upward pressure on wages, and when you add that all together it can be very difficult to raise profit margins. |
there's nothing here that really points to any near-term inflationary dangers. |
These numbers suggest there is no impact to be seen from all the difficulties in Asia. |
This change makes the S&P 500 a better reflection of the large cap segment of the U.S. equities market. Index funds and exchange-traded funds can expect lower operating and transaction expenses and less tracking error. |
This investment continues our focus of investing in high-quality, stable, cash-generative businesses. |
This is a year of unusually low S&P index turnover due to the low number of mergers and acquisitions in the large-cap sector. So we are making the change at a time when the impact on index investors will be minimized. |
This was one time hit from oil prices, ... We knew oil had to go up from an unsustainably low number late last year. |
This was one time hit from oil prices. We knew oil had to go up from an unsustainably low number late last year. |