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U.S. Stock Futures Tumble as Russia-Ukraine War Resurfaces
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Pre-market futures are down this morning following an up-day across the board to start the trading week. The Dow is down -500 points at this hour, the S&P 500 is -50 and the Nasdaq -220 points. Bond yields are coming down as well: to +4.341% on the 10-year and +4.227% on the 2-year.
News reports that Ukraine has struck a munitions depot inside Russia — only a couple days after the Biden administration granted approval for Ukraine to utilize its long-range missiles on the country that attacked them 1000 days ago today, as it happens. For his part, President Putin has threatened to “lower the threshold” for either using nuclear weapons for Russia itself or disseminating to foes of the U.S., including Iran.
Housing Data Softens in October
Ahead of today’s open, we see the latest monthly data on Housing Starts for October, which came in lighter than expected: 1.311 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units was below the 1.34 million anticipated, and the previous month’s revision to 1.353 million. This is the softest print since July, which had been the lowest in roughly three years.
Building Permits — seen as a proxy for future Starts — also came in light of expectations: 1.42 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units was beneath the 1.44 million consensus and even the downwardly revised 1.425 million reported for September. This is also the lightest month since July of this year.
Single-family starts and permits was the culprit here, -7%, while multi-family building actually grew +10% (still down for the year, though). A lack of new construction on the single-family side, along with mortgage rates zooming higher (back over +7% on the 30-year fixed) and some hurricane effects in the Southeast contributed to the miss.
The Homebuilder Confidence survey, released yesterday, showed some growing improvement in the outlook from the homebuilders. It’s important to note that the Homebuilder survey is for November, whereas this Starts/Permits data is from the previous month.
Walmart Beats and Raises in Q3
The second-biggest company reporting earnings this week (behind NVIDIA, which reports tomorrow after the close) is Walmart (WMT - Free Report) , and the biggest of big-box retailers outperformed expectations on both top and bottom lines in its Q3 report this morning. Earnings of 58 cents per share outpaced the 53 cents anticipated and the 51 cents per share reported a year ago. Revenues of $169 billion easily usurped the $167.5 billion estimate.
Walmart also upped its guidance for next quarter and the full fiscal year. Shares are up another +2.5% on the news in early trading, adding to its strong +58% gains year-to-date. Compare this to the S&P’s +22% growth from the start of 2024 trading.
Lowe’s Outperforms Estimates, Comps Guided Lower
Home improvement giant Lowe’s (LOW - Free Report) also outpaced estimates on both top and bottom lines this morning, with earnings of $2.89 per share beating the $2.82 consensus expectation. Revenues posted a +1.08% outperformance to $20.17 billion. Next quarter revenues were guided higher, though comparable sales (comps) were lowered on guidance.
Energizer Powers Through Earnings Guidance, Loses Top-Line Steam
It is fiscal Q4 earnings report before the opening bell — and before a Q1 earnings season that carries the very strong holiday season for batteries — Energizer (ENR - Free Report) posted mixed results, outpacing on earnings by 5 cents to $1.22 per share, while sales in the quarter of $805.7 million missed estimates by -0.45%. Shares are down marginally, the stock is only up +7% year to date.
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U.S. Stock Futures Tumble as Russia-Ukraine War Resurfaces
Pre-market futures are down this morning following an up-day across the board to start the trading week. The Dow is down -500 points at this hour, the S&P 500 is -50 and the Nasdaq -220 points. Bond yields are coming down as well: to +4.341% on the 10-year and +4.227% on the 2-year.
News reports that Ukraine has struck a munitions depot inside Russia — only a couple days after the Biden administration granted approval for Ukraine to utilize its long-range missiles on the country that attacked them 1000 days ago today, as it happens. For his part, President Putin has threatened to “lower the threshold” for either using nuclear weapons for Russia itself or disseminating to foes of the U.S., including Iran.
Housing Data Softens in October
Ahead of today’s open, we see the latest monthly data on Housing Starts for October, which came in lighter than expected: 1.311 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units was below the 1.34 million anticipated, and the previous month’s revision to 1.353 million. This is the softest print since July, which had been the lowest in roughly three years.
Building Permits — seen as a proxy for future Starts — also came in light of expectations: 1.42 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units was beneath the 1.44 million consensus and even the downwardly revised 1.425 million reported for September. This is also the lightest month since July of this year.
Single-family starts and permits was the culprit here, -7%, while multi-family building actually grew +10% (still down for the year, though). A lack of new construction on the single-family side, along with mortgage rates zooming higher (back over +7% on the 30-year fixed) and some hurricane effects in the Southeast contributed to the miss.
The Homebuilder Confidence survey, released yesterday, showed some growing improvement in the outlook from the homebuilders. It’s important to note that the Homebuilder survey is for November, whereas this Starts/Permits data is from the previous month.
Walmart Beats and Raises in Q3
The second-biggest company reporting earnings this week (behind NVIDIA, which reports tomorrow after the close) is Walmart (WMT - Free Report) , and the biggest of big-box retailers outperformed expectations on both top and bottom lines in its Q3 report this morning. Earnings of 58 cents per share outpaced the 53 cents anticipated and the 51 cents per share reported a year ago. Revenues of $169 billion easily usurped the $167.5 billion estimate.
Walmart also upped its guidance for next quarter and the full fiscal year. Shares are up another +2.5% on the news in early trading, adding to its strong +58% gains year-to-date. Compare this to the S&P’s +22% growth from the start of 2024 trading.
Lowe’s Outperforms Estimates, Comps Guided Lower
Home improvement giant Lowe’s (LOW - Free Report) also outpaced estimates on both top and bottom lines this morning, with earnings of $2.89 per share beating the $2.82 consensus expectation. Revenues posted a +1.08% outperformance to $20.17 billion. Next quarter revenues were guided higher, though comparable sales (comps) were lowered on guidance.
Energizer Powers Through Earnings Guidance, Loses Top-Line Steam
It is fiscal Q4 earnings report before the opening bell — and before a Q1 earnings season that carries the very strong holiday season for batteries — Energizer (ENR - Free Report) posted mixed results, outpacing on earnings by 5 cents to $1.22 per share, while sales in the quarter of $805.7 million missed estimates by -0.45%. Shares are down marginally, the stock is only up +7% year to date.