Did you miss yesterday’s LONESOME COWBOY?
Wal-Mart’s U.S. Sales Rise Wal-Mart said its sales rose in the most recent period, although traffic remained weak, while the company predicted a highly promotional holiday-shopping season.
(…) Traffic at the company’s U.S. Wal-Mart stores fell 0.7%. Same-store sales, meanwhile, rose 0.5% in the U.S., while the company had projected a flat figure. It was the first growth in U.S. same-store sales at its namesake stores in about two years.
Mr. McMillon said the positive comparison was driven by strong performance at its smaller Neighborhood Markets stores, as well as from e-commerce, whose sales grew 21% world-wide on a constant-currency basis.
Looking ahead, the company said it expects to report $1.46 to $1.56 a share in earnings for the current quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting $1.57 a share. Wal-Mart also projected same-store sales growth of flat to 1% in the current quarter for its U.S. stores. (…)
Weak Demand, Real-Estate Slump Hit China
(…) According to the National Bureau of Statistics, value-added industrial output in October rose 7.7% year-over-year, down from 8.0% in September and below the median 8.0% increase forecast by 11 economists in a Wall Street Journal survey.
Fixed-asset investment in non-rural areas grew 15.9% in the January-October period, year-over-year, slower than the 16.1% increase recorded in the January-September period. This indicator of construction activity was slightly below economists’ median forecast of a 16.0% gain.
Retail sales growth also slowed modestly to 11.5% year-over-year, down from September’s 11.6% figure. “Business is not good,” said Tang Senlin, manager of Chungdu Aisu Co., a clothing retailer with 50 stores across China. “Clothing sales reflect people’s economic conditions.”
Housing sales fell by 3.1% in October compared with a 10.3% decline in September, according to calculations by The Wall Street Journal. And property investment in the first 10 months rose 12.4% to 7.72 trillion yuan ($1.26 trillion), edging down from a 12.5% growth rate in the first nine months. The statistics agency doesn’t release monthly figures. (…)
Bank of Korea Keeps Rate Unchanged as Lee Weighs Weak Yen
(…) The yen’s tumble since the Bank of Japanboosted stimulus two weeks ago increases pressure on South Korean exporters, Lee said today. The won’s relative strength and inflation below the BOK’s target range have spurred speculation that Lee may reduce the key rate further to aid Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, with sovereign bond yields falling to record lows last week. (…)
“If the yen falls further, it can become a concern,” Lee said today at a press conference after the policy meeting. “I hope the yen doesn’t decline excessively.” (…)
Crude Prices Pressured Anew Brent crude dipped below $80 a barrel for the first time in four years, as concerns about a global glut of oil weighed on prices.
(…) Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Wednesday that talk of an oil price war among producers “is a sign of misunderstanding, deliberate or otherwise” and that the kingdom’s goal is stable markets and steady prices. Speaking at a natural-gas conference during a trip to Mexico, Mr. Naimi declined to comment when asked by reporters about possible production cuts or the possibility that OPEC would reduce its output ceiling at the cartel’s next meeting. (…)
OPEC said Wednesday that its collective crude-oil production fell by 226,400 barrels a day in October, to 30.25 million barrels a day, largely driven by lower Saudi Arabian production. OPEC said Saudi output fell by about 69,900 barrels a day, to 9.6 million barrels a day last month.
Separately, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Saudi crude output fell by 100,000 to 150,000 barrels a day in October to between 9.55 million and 9.6 million barrels a day, down from 9.7 million barrels a day in September. (…)
Production at Libya’s largest oil field restarted after it was forced to shut down by an attack last week, two Libyan oil officials said Wednesday. It is now pumping more than 100,000 barrels a day, one of the officials said.
Libyan production has soared in recent months from less than 200,000 barrels a day to close to 900,000 barrels a day. Higher Libyan output is one of the factors that has sent oil prices plunging since mid-June. (…)
Yellen promises clear communication of interest rate policies
- Fed’s Dudley: It Would Be ‘Premature’ to Hike Interest Rates Soon (Nov. 13)
- Fed’s Dudley: expectations for mid-2015 rate lift-off reasonable (Nov. 13)
- Fed’s Kocherlakota Sees Low Rates Well Into Future (Nov. 13)
- Fed’s Plosser: Raise Rates Soon or Risk Falling Behind the Curve (Nov. 12)
- Fed’s Fisher Says Delay in Raising U.S. Interest Rates Could Cause Recession (Nov. 11)
- Rosengren: Fed Should Remain ‘Patient’ on Rates Until Inflation Begins to Rise (Nov. 11)