U.S. crude oil inventories bumped up 0.3 million barrels for the week ending April 5, according to an Energy Information Administration (EIA) report (link opens in PDF) released today. At 388.9 million barrels�total, the newest number represents a 0.08% increase compared to the previous week.
For the same period, crude oil refinery inputs increased by 106,000 barrels per day (bpd), while imports fell by 211,000 bpd.�These newest numbers carry forward the previous week's trend, when inputs rose 130,000 bpd and imports fell 227,000 bpd.�Overall inventories remain "well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year," according to the EIA.
Source: eia.gov.
Gasoline inventories rose 1.7 million barrels�but remain within their average range. Prices at the pump fell for the sixth straight week to a national average of $3.608, $0.037 per gallon less than the previous week and $0.331 cheaper than a year ago.
Top Services Stocks To Own Right Now: Ford Motor Credit Company(F)
Ford Motor Company primarily develops, manufactures, distributes, and services vehicles and parts worldwide. It operates in two sectors, Automotive and Financial Services. The Automotive sector offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. This sector markets cars, trucks, and parts through retail dealers in North America, and through distributors and dealers outside of North America. It also sells cars and trucks to dealers for sale to fleet customers, including daily rental car companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies, and governments. In addition, this sector provides retail customers with a range of after-sale vehicle services and products in the areas, such as maintenance and light repair, heavy repair, collision repair, vehicle accessories, and extended service contracts under the Ford Service, Lincoln Service, Ford Custom Accessories, Ford Extended Service Plan, and Motorcraft brand names. The Financial Services sector offers vari ous automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers. It offers retail financing, which includes retail installment contracts for new and used vehicles; direct financing leases; wholesale financing products that comprise loans to dealers to finance the purchase of vehicle inventory; loans to dealers to finance working capital, purchase real estate dealership, and/or make improvements to dealership facilities; and other financing products, as well as provides insurance services. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and is based in Dearborn, Michigan.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Rosevear]
Ford's (NYSE: F ) turnaround has been one for the history books. Near collapse in 2006, the automaker borrowed big to finance its own turnaround ��and succeeded in remarkable style.
- [By Daniel Miller]
This year has started off hot for Detroit automakers who enjoyed a stellar first quarter in the U.S. ��especially Ford (NYSE: F ) . Some wondered if the U.S. vehicle sales would start to cool off heading into the summer. If April sales are any indication, the hot sales are here to stay ��much to investors' delight. Here's a quick look at what Ford reported today.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Louis Lanzano/AP Mercedes continues to top a closely watched rating of customer satisfaction with their cars. No surprise there. But some other luxury brands have fallen to the bottom of the rankings, including Acura, BMW, Audi and Cadillac. Overall, the American Customer Satisfaction Index declined for a second straight year. Satisfaction scores rose to historic high following the Great Recession, as the Detroit Three automakers -- General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and Chrysler -- used big price incentives to lure in customers. The government was also providing tax incentives. Sales boomed, and buyers were happy with the cars and trucks they bought, believing that they got good value on their purchase. However, over the past few years, automakers have reduced the number and size of buyer incentives. "Much of customer satisfaction is driven by price incentives, and as those have gone away, satisfaction has diminished," said Forrest Morgeson, director of research for the index. ACSI Automobile Report 2014 Reputations of Imported Cars Decline More The score for 16 of the 21 brands measured declined, with imports from Europe and Asia taking the biggest hit. "That's a win for the domestic automakers," said Morgeson, "just to close that gap a little bit." The only brands with higher scores compared to last year are Chevrolet and Buick. At the top of the rankings, Mercedes-Benz fell 2 percent from a year ago, with a score of 86 (on a 100-point scale). Subaru received the second-highest rating, followed by Lexus, Volkswagen, Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC). Buick was tied with Toyota and Honda, making it the only domestic brand to beat the industry average of 82. It's unusual to see luxury brands falling to the bottom of the ratings, and Morgeson said it's "not a good sign for their future success, if that holds." Historically, foreign and luxury brands have dominated the ACSI rankings. BMW fell only 2 points from last year, "but still, you'd expect a luxury brand to
5 Best Cheap Stocks To Own For 2014: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)
Kohl?s Corporation operates department stores in the United States. The company?s stores offer private and exclusive, as well as national branded apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children; soft home products, such as sheets and pillows; and housewares primarily to middle-income customers. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 1,089 stores in 49 states. The company also offers on-line shopping on its Web site at Kohls.com. Kohl?s Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Thursday
Earnings Expected From: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE: GIB), Kohl�� Corporation (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom, Inc, (NYSE: JWN), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Economic Releases Expected: French GDP, German GDP, Italian GDP, British retails sales, eurozone GDP, Greek unemployment rateFriday
- [By Sean Williams]
Department store
This was perhaps the biggest shock of all, as Kohl's (NYSE: KSS ) topped Macy's�for the top spot in department store brand loyalty. Given Kohl's recently weak same-store sales figures, this may not make a lot of sense, but that has more to do with a weakness in the overall economy than a weakness in the company's operational model. Kohl's relies on discounts and promotions, as well as its Kohl's charge card, to bring customers into its stores and keep them hooked. Furthermore, Kohl's online business is among the most shopper-friendly. - [By Laura Brodbeck]
Thursday
Earnings Expected From: Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), Kohl�� (NYSE: KSS), Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) Economic Releases Expected: �US industrial production, US CPI, eurozone GDP, eurozone CPI, German GDP, French GDPFriday
- [By Lauren Pollock]
Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Thursday’s session are Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(WMT), Kohl's Corp.(KSS) and Viacom Inc.(VIAB)
5 Best Cheap Stocks To Own For 2014: Bank of America Corporation(BAC)
Bank of America Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and nonbanking financial services and products to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company?s Deposits segment generates savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and checking accounts; and Global Card Services segment provides the U.S. consumer and business card, consumer lending, international card and debit card services. Its Home Loans & Insurance segment offers consumer real estate products and services, including mortgage loans, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. It also provides property, disability, and credit insurance. The company?s Global Commercial Banking segment offers lending products, including commercial loans and commitment facilities, real estate lending, leasing, trade finance, short-term credit, asset-based lending, and indirect consumer loans; and capital management and treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, and short-term investing options. Its Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial products, advisory services, settlement, and custody services; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, merger-related advisory services, and risk management products; and integrated working capital management and treasury solutions. The company?s Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and brokerage services, estate management, financial planning services, fiduciary management, credit and banking expertise, and asset management products. Bank of America Corporation serves customers through a network of approximately 5,900 banking centers and 18,000 automated teller machines. It was formerly known as NationsBank Corporation and changed its name on October 1, 1998. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1874 and is based in Charlott e, North Carolina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Maxfield]
One of the things Buffett is known for is "deal flow." When companies like Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) or Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) need a stamp of approval, as they both have over the last few years, they go to Buffett (and notably, not Berkshire) -- though, to be fair, B of A's CEO Brian Moynihan said that Buffett came to him.
- [By Matt Thalman]
2 Dow losers
Shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) ended the day as the two worst-performing Dow stocks and the only two components that ended the day in the red. Bank of America lost 0.81%, while JPMorgan was cut lower by 0.18%. Investors with money in the banks may be concerned with the short-term effects that rising interest rates will have on profits. But Bank of America fell slightly more than JPMorgan as it went back in front of a judge again today to discuss the $8.5 billion settlement it has with investors. While some argue that the amount is fair, others, led by AIG, claim it's too small, considering the amount of outstanding claims against the company. It's been estimated that B of A could be liable for up to $60 billion, but most believe that figure is much higher than what it will ultimately end up paying. - [By Jessica Alling]
Sector-specific effects
One of the sectors viewed to be benefiting largely from the Fed's current policy (and resulting low interest rates) is the nation's banks. Both Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM ) have been enjoying a flood of refinancing activity thanks to the historically low interest rates. This is great news for the banks, which are trying to gain ground on the top originator, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC ) . Wells commanded an impressive 29% of the mortgage origination market in 2012, with JPMorgan coming in a distant second. Bank of America has stated that one of its main goals is to capture some more market share, though the historical issues with the bank's home loans may be keeping customers away. - [By Amanda Alix]
Without a doubt, Pandit made some blunders, such as the loss on the sale of Citi's interest in Smith Barney, the brokerage firm it formerly shared with Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS ) . Also, the disputed pay package of $15 million, which was measurably higher than that for the CEOs of more profitable peers�Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , was obviously seen as overblown. Even Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC ) Brian Moynihan had shareholders' blessing�for his -- albeit -- much smaller $7 million pay package less than a month later despite lingering mortgage-related problems and boisterous protests outside the meeting's doors.
5 Best Cheap Stocks To Own For 2014: Partner Communications Company Ltd.(PTNR)
Partner Communications Company Ltd. provides various telecommunications services in Israel. It offers cellular telephony services on GSM/GPRS and UMTS/HSDPA networks. The company also provides basic services, including domestic mobile calls, international dialing, roaming, voice mail, short message services, intelligent network services, content based on its cellular portal, data and fax transmission, and other services. In addition, it offers Internet services provider services that provides access to the Internet, as well as home WiFi networks; value added services, such as anti-virus and anti-spam filtering; and transmission services; and Web video on demand services, music tracks, and games. Further, the company provides voice over broadband and primary rate interface fixed-line telephone services; and data capacity services. Additionally, it offers content services comprising voice mail, text, and multimedia messaging, as well as downloadable wireless data application s, including ring tones, music, games, and other informational content; and sells handsets, phones, routers, and related equipment. The company markets its products through its sales centers, business sales representatives, traditional networks of specialized dealers, and non-traditional networks of retail chains and stores under the Orange brand name. Partner Communications Company Ltd. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Rosh Ha-ayin, Israel.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
Telecommunications services shares jumped around 1.19 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), China Unicom (Hong Kong) (NYSE: CHU), and Partner Communications Company (NASDAQ: PTNR).
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