Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Prospective borrowers completed more mortgage applications in the week that included New Year’s than in the week that included Christmas. Refinances drove the gain.
A seasonally adjusted 8 percent increase from the previous seven-day period was recorded for the Market Composite Index for the week ended Jan. 5.
The index, which is a measure of retail single-family loan applications, soared 46 percent from the preceding week when seasonal factors are disregarded.
From:: Financing
Oil prices pared some of their gains Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies fell by 4.9 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 5. That was more than the 3.5 million-barrel decline forecast by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, however, had reported a decline of 11.2 million barrels, according to sources. Gasoline stockpiles rose 4.1 million barrels for the week, while distillate stockpiles added 4.3 million barrels, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey forecast a supply rise of 2.3 million barrels for gasoline and an increase of 2.1 million barrels for distillates. February crude rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $63.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from $63.35 before the supply data.
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From:: Stock Market News
Coca-Cola Co. said Wednesday that it is launching new packaging, a new campaign and new flavors for its Diet Coke brand. The company says Diet Coke is not being reformulated, but Coca-Cola “is re-energizing and modernizing Diet Coke for a new generation of drinkers,” according to a release. The new flavors are Ginger Lime, Fiesty Cherry, Zesty Blood Orange and Twisted Mango. Diet Coke’s existing packaging, including 12-ounce cans and mini cans will continue to be offered. The new packaging, which is the same shape and size as the Dasani Sparkling packaging, will be available this month. A new marketing campaign is also launching in January. Coca-Cola shares are down 0.6% in Wednesday trading, but up 12% for the last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 28% for the last 12 months.
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From:: Stock Market News
Shares of Micron Technology Inc. dropped 2.3% in morning trade Wednesday, to extend the 5.7% tumble on heavy volume in the previous session, amid concerns over the announcement earlier this week that the memory-chip company and Intel Corp. were ending their 3D NAND memory development partnership. J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur reiterated his overweight rating on Micron, saying investor concerns that Intel was trying to move into China may be overblown. Sur said investors had asked if Intel could license its 3D NAND technology to start-up memory chip companies in China: “While we do not know if Intel is indeed trying to license the technology, we believe Micron continues to have ownership rights to the developed technology for many years and any licensing agreement that Intel would enter into with a third party would have to be approved by Micron, and we believe Micron would be against doing such a deal.” Intel shares slipped 0.2% in morning trade. Over the past three months, Micron’s stock was little changed, Intel shares have rallied 9.8%, the PHLX Semiconductor Index has climbed 8.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 11%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Shares of theater chain AMC Entertainment Holding Inc. were down more than 2% in premarket trade on Wednesday after being downgraded to sector perform from outperform at RBC Capital Markets. RBC analysts wrote in a note that their tepid view of the 2018 box office and AMC’s high leverage make for a challenging combination for the company. “We’d likely get more bullish on AMC if the box office outlook (given its leverage) and, or there was traction on the international IPO,” lead analyst Leo Kulp wrote. “As was evidenced in 2017, AMC’s leverage makes it very susceptible to changes in multiple. We estimate a one point EV/EBITDA multiple change has a 36% impact on the stock price. While this is a positive in an up year for the box office, the uncertainty around the 2018 box office makes us more conservative.” Kulp expects that the 2018 box office will be flat compared with 2017, which was down slightly from the last two years. They said they see fewer big event films being released this year, and instead more non-sequel content, which could be a negative or a positive depending on how the shift in the box office is received. Shares of AMC have declined more than 59% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 21% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 28%.
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From:: Stock Market News
U.S. stocks on Wednesday were trading modestly lower, with the donwdraft being partially attributed to investors cashing out of some of their holdings after a multiday uptrend for the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq. Wall Street investors were also paying close attention to yield moves in U.S. bonds after a report said China is considering halting its U.S. government paper, which quelled appetite for U.S. stocks, bonds and the dollar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 66 points, or 0.3%, at 25,318, the S&P 500 index declined 8 points, or 0.3%, at 2,743, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 28 points, or 0.4%, at 7,134. All three main equity benchmarks ended at all-time highs on Tuesday. The 10-year Treasury yield was on the verge of rising above 2.60%, which could influence equity purchases. Bond prices fall as yields rise.
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From:: Stock Market News
Whirlpool Corp. disclosed Wednesday that it will incur about $80 million in charges as result of a restructuring of its Embraco compressor business, which is expected to cut about 500 jobs. As part of the restructuring, the appliance maker said it will cease operations at Embraco’s facility in Turin, Italy in 2018, and concentrating the assembly of compressors in other facilities. The stock, which was little changed in premarket trade, has lost 8.4% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has rallied 21%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is confident the cryptocurrency story will end in tears, but he isn’t putting any money on it. “In terms of cryptocurrencies generally, I can say with almost certainty that it will come to a bad ending,” the Berkshire Hathaway chairman and chief executive told CNBC in an interview. Buffett said that if it were possible to buy a five-year put option “on every one of the cryptocurrencies” he would do so, but that he would never “short a dime’s worth” of any of them outright. Buffett also said he had no interest in trading bitcoin futures . The bitcoin spot price was off 4% at $13,982.65, far off the all-time high above $19,000 it hit in mid-December.
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From:: Stock Market News
Luxury clothing and accessories maker Vince Holdings Corp. said Wednesday that same-store sales for the nine-week holiday period through Dec. 30 rose 15.9%. Direct-to-consumer same-store sales rose 8.8% in the period, while merchandise margin for the direct-to-consumer segment rose slight from the year-earlier period. “The new product is resonating with our customers and driving double digit comparable sales growth in our full price direct-to-consumer channels,” Chief Executive Brendan Hoffman said in a statement. “We were also pleased with improved sell-through at our wholesale partners, which we believe bodes well for 2018 performance.” Shares soared 19% premarket, but have fallen 84% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 21%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. rallied 1.1% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the air carrier raised its fourth-quarter unit revenue outlook, citing improving yields in all geographic regions and higher-than-anticipated domestic close-in bookings. The company now expects total revenue per available seat miles to be up 5.0% to 6.0%, compared with its previous guidance range of 2.5% to 4.5%. The company also raised its outlook for pre-tax margin, excluding special items, to 6.5% to 7.0% from 4.5% to 6.5%. Total capacity for 2017 was up about 1% from a year ago, with domestic capacity about flat and international capacity up 4%. The stock has lost 1.8% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index has gained 1.9% and the S&P 500 has climbed 7.9%.
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From:: Stock Market News