Turns out the Street didn't fall for all the "macro" reasons UPS warned about and realized even with their suspect battery, Boeing only has a single competitor in a space that will see an avalanche of trillions of dollars over next couple of decades. Scrutiny will be ratcheted higher this week. The Street is eager to reward bona-fide great news (which probably leaves out big money center banks and their convoluted earnings results).
This week 70 of the S&P 500 report results with big names including:
IBM
GE
GOOG
JNJ
UNH
MSFT
INTC
BAC
MS
GS
Corporate America promised a strong second half to 2013 and now they'll have to back it up with greater conviction and actual results that hint at improving momentum. There are signs the economy is rebounding, but we need to know that it picks up steam.
Main Street Where Are You?
Consumer confidence out Friday were largely overshadowed but point to the elephant in the main lounge at the Federal Reserve- Main Street not taking the bait. According to the Michigan survey consumer expect a bleaker situation in the next six months. Right now that puts the nation in limbo. This number is a long way from the 64.2 average reading during Great Recession but still long ways from all-time highs and even five year average of 89.0 leading into November 2007.
It's unlikely that higher mortgages and gasoline prices will help this number which puts onus on better job creation.
This morning the June retail sales report for June was a dud. Coming in at 0.4 the number was below consensus as there were few standouts.
Home improvement -2.2
Eating and drinking places -1.2
Department stores -1.0
Autos +1.8
Furniture stores +2.4
Citigroup posted numbers that beat consensus with the big standout being Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
