Pence Wealth Management’s Financial Market Report

US FINANCIAL MARKET

• Pfizer quarterly earnings quadrupled to $6.32 billion. Global company sales fell 7% to $15.1 billion, hurt by generic competition for its Lipitor cholesterol fighter, but came in well above expectations of $14.37 billion. Pfizer forecast full-year 2013 earnings of $2.20 to $2.30 per share.
• Eli Lilly fourth-quarter profit fell as competition from generic drugs drove revenue lower, but results beat Street’s expectations. Lilly forecast earning would increase this year by 13% to 17% to $3.82 to $3.97 per share.
• Apple increases 4th-generation iPad’s memory to 128 gigabytes.
• Yahoo sees revenue climb this year, but long road ahead. Yahoo said that revenue will range between $4.5 billion and $4.6 billion in 2013, implying an annual growth rate of 0.7% to 3%.
• Ford fourth-quarter profit beats Street, sees bigger Europe loss. Ford reported a per-share pretax operating profit of nearly $1.7 billion and said the sales outlook was deteriorating in Europe, and it now expects to lose $2 billion in 2013.
• Illinois Tool Works’ fourth-quarter net income more than doubled. Its results met analysts’ estimates. It raised 2013 earnings outlook, anticipating $4.13 to $4.37 per share.
• Corning 4Q net income falls, but beats predictions. Fourth-quarter net income fell 42% on restructuring costs and other charges.
• EMC expects 2013 revenues of $23.5 billion, about in line with the Street consensus. However, the weaker-than-expected guidance last night from VMware clearly is weighing on EMC’s shares.
• VMware, subsidiary of EMC Corp., said that it is cutting 900 jobs, or nearly 7% of its workforce, and expects revenue to fall short of Wall Street’s expectations for the current quarter. VMware’s virtualization software allows one computer to function as multiple machines, which can help companies save energy and other costs.
• Refinery operator Valero fourth-quarter profit soared on higher refining margins, as it swapped out foreign crude for cheaper domestic oil. The results easily beat analysts’ expectations.
• Harley-Davidson’s net income slid 33% in the fourth quarter.
• JetBlue scratched out a $1 million profit in the fourth quarter as costs rose twice as fast as revenue and Hurricane Sandy washed away some ticket sales.
• Moody’s has cut the ratings of six Canadian financial institutions due to concerns about rising consumer debt and high housing prices. Canada’s banking system has been named the soundest in the world five years in a row. But the outlook for the sector has become murky due to record consumer debt levels.

US ECONOMY & POLITICS

• The Conference Board consumer confidence index dropped to 58.6 in January. That’s down from a reading of 66.7 in December and the lowest since November 2011. It hurt by higher taxes.
• Both consumers’ assessments of the present situation and expectations about the future declined significantly. The Conference Board’s gauge of present conditions fell to a three-month low of 57.3 in January from 64.6. The share of consumers expecting more jobs to become available in the next six months dropped to 14.3% in January. Fewer consumers anticipate a pickup in their incomes as well. The share expecting an increase in the next six months fell to 13.6%
• The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.6% in November. Prices in the 20 cities rose by 0.63% in November as home prices increased in 18 of the index’s 20 cities. The index rose 5.5% year over year. It was the strongest year-over-year price increase since August 2006.
• Phoenix, which saw its housing market rebound sharply last year, led with the biggest yearly gain at 22.8%. New York was the only city to fall, down 1.2% from the previous year.
• Pending home sales–a good leading indicator of existing home sales–declined by 4.3% in December.

EUROPE & WORLD

• German consumer confidence will increase in February due to a stable labor market and higher income expectations.
• Japan approves $1.02 trillion budget for 2013/14, borrowing at new highs.
• Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said today he will step down on June 30, in the middle of his second term. A former economics professor at MIT, Fischer was U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s thesis adviser.
• Polish 2012 GDP Slowed to 2% on Consumer Demand, Exports.
• India cuts key rate to spur growth as inflation cools.
• Australian business confidence rebounded by the most in more than a decade after the central bank’s sixth interest-rate cut in 14 months.

TODAY in HISTORY

• John Beckley became the first Librarian of the U.S. Congress. He was paid $2 a day. Not bad, considering in 1802 you could buy a house for $25.00 and a chicken (1802)
• Kansas, the Sunflower State, became the 34th state in the United States (1861)
• Karl Benz received a patent for the first successful gasoline-driven car (1886)

Sources: Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Bloomberg, CNN Money.

This information has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation is being made as to its accuracy or completeness. The information provided should be used only as general information and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. The economic forecasts set forth in the material may not develop as predicted. All indices, such as the S & P 500, are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.