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General Motors (GM - Free Report) made headlines in today’s pre-market when it announced it will be selling its European brands — Opel and Vauxhall — to French automaker Peugeot for $2.3 billion in cash and stock. GM plans to take a one-time charge of between $4 - $4.5 billion, related to pension agreements with its Opel workforce in Europe.
Freeing itself of the Eurozone looks to be a double-edged sword for GM: whereas the company looks forward to no longer being bogged down in a region and with brands that have not turned a profit in nearly 20 years, subtracting a big market like Europe from its global operations carries the likelihood that it may be conspicuously absent compared to its competition, especially London-based Fiat Chrysler .
Both Fiat and GM are currently Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks. Zacks Style Scores for both “Big 3” automakers are also favorable: where GM has a combined Value, Growth and Momentum rating of B, Fiat Chrysler is A. Strong Buy companies with Style Scores of A represent the very best-rated companies in the stock-trading universe.
Jobs Report This Week
Ahead of next week’s meeting of Federal Reserve Presidents, which now has an 80% likelihood of raising interest rates 25 basis points to a range of 75 - 100 basis points. A key cog in this wheel looks to be the newest read on the U.S. labor market, including both the ADP (ADP - Free Report) private-sector jobs report on Wednesday and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) non-farm payroll report on Friday.
Last month saw 227K new jobs and a 4.8% unemployment rate — both higher than analysts had expected. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1%, about as weak as you can get, but at least it’s still growth. Should the Fed put the brakes on a March rate hike, it would likely have to do with either a major disappointment in new jobs numbers or a notable fall in earnings growth, or both. Otherwise, expectations will remain high for increased interest rates next week.
Image: Bigstock
GM Divests from Eurozone for $2.3 Billion
Monday, March 6, 2017
General Motors (GM - Free Report) made headlines in today’s pre-market when it announced it will be selling its European brands — Opel and Vauxhall — to French automaker Peugeot for $2.3 billion in cash and stock. GM plans to take a one-time charge of between $4 - $4.5 billion, related to pension agreements with its Opel workforce in Europe.
Freeing itself of the Eurozone looks to be a double-edged sword for GM: whereas the company looks forward to no longer being bogged down in a region and with brands that have not turned a profit in nearly 20 years, subtracting a big market like Europe from its global operations carries the likelihood that it may be conspicuously absent compared to its competition, especially London-based Fiat Chrysler .
Both Fiat and GM are currently Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks. Zacks Style Scores for both “Big 3” automakers are also favorable: where GM has a combined Value, Growth and Momentum rating of B, Fiat Chrysler is A. Strong Buy companies with Style Scores of A represent the very best-rated companies in the stock-trading universe.
Jobs Report This Week
Ahead of next week’s meeting of Federal Reserve Presidents, which now has an 80% likelihood of raising interest rates 25 basis points to a range of 75 - 100 basis points. A key cog in this wheel looks to be the newest read on the U.S. labor market, including both the ADP (ADP - Free Report) private-sector jobs report on Wednesday and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) non-farm payroll report on Friday.
Last month saw 227K new jobs and a 4.8% unemployment rate — both higher than analysts had expected. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1%, about as weak as you can get, but at least it’s still growth. Should the Fed put the brakes on a March rate hike, it would likely have to do with either a major disappointment in new jobs numbers or a notable fall in earnings growth, or both. Otherwise, expectations will remain high for increased interest rates next week.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
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