BEARLY NEWS 10/04/2013

Submitted by: Kathy Hawkins

	Bearly News consolidates the most important financial news stories into the shortest possible read. To best leverage this e-letter simply read the one sentence summaries of each news story and click on the numeric reference at the end of the sentence to open the full news story in your web browser if you wish to read more details

	October 4, 2013
	Top Stories
	Vista Equity plans to buy Active Network for $1.05 billion, or $14.50 a share, which is a 27 percent premium over the company’s closing price on the day of the announcement. This will be Vista’s 15th acquisition this year. (1) Click here to see how OptionVue’s ultimate option analytics software helped one trader take his trading to the next level, while cutting his trading time in half. On Tuesday, the U.S. government began a partial shutdown after lawmakers failed to pass authorization for sufficient funds for government operations. As the week went on, “the lack of progress fanned the widening impression that the shutdown dispute could persist into mid-October and become tangled with an even more consequential battle over the debt limit.” (2) The Institute of Supply Management non-manufacturing survey index fell more than expected in Sept. – dropping from an Aug. reading of 58.6 to 54.4 compared to forecasts for a decline to 57 – as increased mortgage rates weighed on the housing market and the “first government shutdown in 17 years threatens to slow demand for everything from auto purchases to air travel.” (3)
	Economic Releases & Statistics
	U.S. businesses added 166,000 jobs in Sept. – missing forecasts for a gain of 180,000 – as fiscal austerity begins to weigh on job creation. Aug. was also downwardly revised to show the addition of 159,000 jobs rather than the previous projection of 176,000. (4) A pickup in auto sales in addition to the housing market’s modest recovery had U.S. manufacturing expanding at its fastest pace in more than 2 years, with the Institute for Supply Management’s index unexpectedly rising to 56.2 in Sept. from a previous 55.7. Economists had called for a decline to 55. (5) The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index showed that manufacturing in China rose at a slower pace than first projected – rising from a reading of 50.1 in Aug. to 50.2 in Sept. versus last week’s preliminary reading of 51.2. (6) With the impact of flooding in Alberta and a construction strike in Quebec receding, Canada’s economy expanded at its fastest monthly pace in 2 years, with GDP rising from a 0.5 percent decline to a 0.6 percent advance in July. (7) German unemployment unexpectedly rose in Sept., as the number of people out of work rose by seasonally adjusted 25,000 to 2.98 million “due to a scaling back of job creation schemes.” Economists had anticipated a decline of 5,000. The unemployment rate also made an unexpected turn – rising to 6.9 percent versus forecasts for an unchanged 6.8 percent. (8) Unemployment in the euro zone remained unchanged at 12 percent from July to Aug., as increased manufacturing helped to keep the rate from rising even higher. Forecasts called for a rise to 12.1 percent. (9) Inflation in the euro zone fell to a Feb. 2010 low in Sept., as consumer prices fell from a previous 1.3 percent advance to just 1.1 percent year-on-year. Economists had forecasted a slightly smaller decline to 1.2 percent. The statistics agency cited energy and food prices as being behind the larger-than-anticipated decline. (10)
	Stocks & Earnings
	During a free webinar, Jack Carter makes known the 7 secrets to making profit-rich weekly options trades – reserve your spot here. Walgreen’s 4Q profit soared 86 percent to $657 million, or 69 cents a share, as pharmacy sales climbed 6.4 percent. The results beat forecasts, which called for 72 cents a share. (11) Constellation Brands Inc 2Q earnings jumped from $124.6 million, or 71 cents a share, to $1.52 billion, or $7.74 per share, year-on-year. Excluding items, earnings came in at 96 cents a share, which surpassed forecasts of 88 cents a share. The company also raised its full-year outlook to $2.80 to $3.10 a share – citing its June acquisition of U.S. beer business Grupo Modelo. (12) Despite meeting forecasts for a 4Q net income of $1.01 a share, Accenture’s shares dropped 2.46 percent after both the company and analysts cut their outlook projections for the coming quarter. (13) HTC Corp. posted its first quarterly loss in more than a decade, “as an expensive effort to revive its brand through its high-end HTC One smartphone has so far failed to boost sales.” During the 3Q, HTC recorded a net loss of 2.97 billion New Taiwan dollars ($101 million U.S.) – surpassing Wall Street’s estimated net loss of $196.25 million New Taiwan dollars. (14)
	Global Currencies
	As anticipated, the Reserve Bank of Australia held its cash rate unchanged at a record low 2.5 percent. (15) The European Central Bank similarly left its interest rate unchanged and in line with forecasts at a record low 0.50 percent. (16) Market Authority’s Chief Trading Coach releases a new strategy that helped him to gain $4,520 a month in passive income – gain exclusive access to this free presentation here. The partial U.S. government shutdown had the dollar falling to a nearly 1-month low of 96.96 yen. Despite regaining some ground, the dollar remains down 1.1 percent for the week at 97.15 yen. (17) The shutdown had the Canadian dollar falling against a majority of its peers this week – including a 0.2 percent decline to C$1.0326 against the U.S. dollar. (18)
	Oil & Energies
	According to Wednesday’s EIA report, the nation’s crude oil supplies rose by 5.5 million barrels last week to 363.7 million barrels, an upturn of 1.5 percent, which brought inventories to stand 0.3 lower year-on-year. Analysts called for a much smaller 2.4 million barrel build. Gasoline supplies unexpectedly rose 3.5 million barrels to 219.7 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a 1.4 million barrel draw. Supplies stand 12.1 percent higher year-on-year. Distillates dropped by 1.7 million barrels to reach 129.2 million versus forecasts for a 1.8 million barrel draw. (19) Natural gas storage rose more than expected last week – advancing 101 billion cubic feet to 3.487 trillion cubic feet compared to forecasts for a gain of 98 billion cubic feet. Supplies now stand “down 155 billion cubic feet from the year-ago level and 49 billion cubic feet above the five-year average.” (20)
	Grains & Field Crops
	On Tuesday, the USDA reported that domestic soybean stockpiles totaled 141 million bushels as of Sept. 1 – surpassing previous projections of 125 million and sending prices down 0.8 percent to $12.7275 a bushel. Stockpiles of corn stood at 824 million bushels – beating forecasts of 694 million bushels and the USDA’s previous 661 million bushel estimate. The news had prices dropping to a 2010 low of $4.40 a bushel. (21) Domestic wheat production is expected to fall from last year’s 2.266 billion bushels to 2.128 billion bushels. However, despite the decline, the projection still beat forecasts, which called for 2.018 billion bushels. (22) For the current season, India’s grain production is projected at 129.32 million tonnes, which is “8.75 million tonnes higher than the average of 120.57 million tonnes.” (23)
	Precious Metals
	Gold demand in India rose on Friday after prices fell to an Aug. 14 low of Rs 28,915 per 10 grams, as the rupee advanced to a 7-week high. (24) The Canberra-based Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics expects gold to fall to an average of $1,275 an ounce in 2014 – down from its June forecast of $1,340 an ounce – “as investors shift into other asset classes amid speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow stimulus.” (25)
	Other Commodities
	Hog futures fell to a 5-week low of 85.5 cents a pound on Tuesday after a report showed that U.S. herds unexpectedly rose 0.3 percent – up from 68.172 million hog to 68.36 million – versus forecasts for a 1 percent decline. (26) On Wednesday, CME Group Inc., the world’s biggest futures-exchange operator, ceased “publishing measurements of cash prices for hogs and feeder cattle. The indexes, used to settle some futures contracts, depend on data distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” which has been included as part of the U.S. government shutdown and has suspend reports until employees return from mandated furloughs. (27) According to Volcafe, Vietnam is expected to harvest a record 30 million (132 pound) bags of robusta coffee in the coming 2013/14 season. (28) Vietnam farmers already hold a record 120,000 metric tons of coffee from the previous crop – which is a 45 percent advance over last year’s holdings – as farmers hold out for a price rally. (29)
	Comments or Suggestions?
	We would love to hear from you. Just click reply to this email and write us. Unlike many other newsletters when you reply to us it goes to a real person and we look forward to your responses.