Salient to Investors:
Earnings:
- 73% of 103 S&P 500 companies so far reporting have beaten estimates
- 53% have beaten revenue estimates.
- 80% of S&P 500 financial companies have beaten estimates by an average of 8.7%. Banks and insurers are predicted to report earnings growth of 26% this quarter. Excluding financial stocks, S&P 500 companies are expected to report a 2% drop in profit.
- 17 tech companies in the S&P 500 so far reporting earnings have missed estimates by an average 3.6% versus 2.7% above forecasts for all index stocks.
Tim Leach at US Bank Wealth Mgmt said Bernanke made it clear that the Fed will remain flexible, while earnings are well supported going forward by economic activity and strong corporate balance sheets.
Vincent Lowry at VTL Associates said there is a broad-based move by retail investors into the equity markets, which are the place to be because they will be able to absorb any gradual increase in interest rates. ETFs are attracting money at the fastest rate since September 2008.
Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-19/s-p-500-climbs-for-4th-week-to-record-on-earnings-fed.html
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