Monday, April 1, 2019Much the way we saw on Friday morning, a “new” economic read hits the tape ahead of today’s opening bell. That is, the news isn’t really “new;” it’s a February read on Retail Sales, posted at a delayed date due to the 5-week U.S. government shutdown early this year. The good news is that these delays are now shorter than the initial delayed economic reads we’d seen earlier.
The bad news is that Retail Sales for February came in much lower than expected: -0.2% was the headline number, compared to the +0.3% expected. Subtract volatile gasoline prices and we see this figure sink even further, to -0.4%. Ex-autos was also -0.4%, compared to the +0.4% expected and the +0.9% we saw in January.
Thus, we are seeing less robust consumer activity than we had been anticipating, at least from roughly a month ago. The silver lining here is that the half-point we lost on the February headline we gained on the revision to January’s headline — from +0.2% on the original report to +0.7% this morning.
Keep in mind these winter months often have weather-related issues that push or pull their monthly econ data, and today’s Retail Sales looks like a nice illustration of this. And pre-market futures do not seem to be at all negatively impacted by this read: shares on the Dow in early trading are +200 points, looking to pick up where March left off.
Kellogg (K - Free Report) Sells Keebler, Famous Amos
Consumer non-durables giant Kellogg Company (K - Free Report) has agreed to sell its Keebler, Famous Amos and fruit snacks brands to Italian confectionery company Ferrero Rocher for $1.3 billion, beating out Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands which had also bid on the brands. The deal will bring some welcome liquidity to the Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated Kellogg, while continuing to build out Ferrero’s portfolio. The European candy maker already owns well-known brands such as Nutella.
The deal also includes Girl Scouts cookies, which takes ownership out of American ownership for the first time in history. The companies expect this deal to be completed by July of this year.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>
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Monday, April 1, 2019
Much the way we saw on Friday morning, a “new” economic read hits the tape ahead of today’s opening bell. That is, the news isn’t really “new;” it’s a February read on Retail Sales, posted at a delayed date due to the 5-week U.S. government shutdown early this year. The good news is that these delays are now shorter than the initial delayed economic reads we’d seen earlier.
The bad news is that Retail Sales for February came in much lower than expected: -0.2% was the headline number, compared to the +0.3% expected. Subtract volatile gasoline prices and we see this figure sink even further, to -0.4%. Ex-autos was also -0.4%, compared to the +0.4% expected and the +0.9% we saw in January.
Thus, we are seeing less robust consumer activity than we had been anticipating, at least from roughly a month ago. The silver lining here is that the half-point we lost on the February headline we gained on the revision to January’s headline — from +0.2% on the original report to +0.7% this morning.
Keep in mind these winter months often have weather-related issues that push or pull their monthly econ data, and today’s Retail Sales looks like a nice illustration of this. And pre-market futures do not seem to be at all negatively impacted by this read: shares on the Dow in early trading are +200 points, looking to pick up where March left off.
Kellogg (K - Free Report) Sells Keebler, Famous Amos
Consumer non-durables giant Kellogg Company (K - Free Report) has agreed to sell its Keebler, Famous Amos and fruit snacks brands to Italian confectionery company Ferrero Rocher for $1.3 billion, beating out Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands which had also bid on the brands. The deal will bring some welcome liquidity to the Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated Kellogg, while continuing to build out Ferrero’s portfolio. The European candy maker already owns well-known brands such as Nutella.
The deal also includes Girl Scouts cookies, which takes ownership out of American ownership for the first time in history. The companies expect this deal to be completed by July of this year.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>
Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential
The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.
Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better.
See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
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