Miscellaneous

Market surveys estimate that Cushing crude oil inventories rose between April 28 and May 5, 2017.

Norfolk Southern’s intermodal traffic Norfolk Southern’s (NSC) total intermodal traffic rose 6.5% in the week ended April 29, 2017. Its volumes reached ~78,000 containers. Norfolk’s container traffic rose 5.6%, and its trailer traffic rose 15.6% YoY (year-over-year) to nearly 6,900 units, compared with 5,900 units in the week ended April 30, 2016. Since the beginning of […]

Canadian National Railway’s intermodal volumes In the 17th week of 2017, Canadian National Railway’s (CNI) overall intermodal volumes rose 9.4%. There was no trailer movement in the week. The company moved more than 47,000 containers in the 17th week of 2017, compared with more than 43,000 containers in the corresponding week of 2016. The rise […]

While the US dollar has seen a decline in 2017, the increased possibility of a Fed rate hike in June could give the currency some breathing room.

Metal investors have to study upward and downward trends as price change predictability can be affected by rises and falls in precious metal prices.

Geopolitical risks had been playing on haven bids for precious metals, but now, we may be seeing to be a temporary respite—however brief—from global worries.

After falling to five-week low price levels on May 2, crude oil prices are stable in the early hours on May 3. The market opened higher on Wednesday.

After its earnings, Phillips 66 was rated by 19 analysts. Four analysts gave it a “buy,” 15 gave it a “hold,” and no analysts gave it a “sell.”

Newmont Mining, Silver Wheaton, Randgold, and Yamana have RSI levels of 45.5, 37.1, 41.2, and 43.0, respectively.

The gold-platinum spread was ~1.3 on April 26, 2017. The gold-platinum spread RSI on that day was 59.

In this series, we’ve examined Tesoro’s (TSO) 1Q17 estimates, refining margin outlook, and stock performance ahead of its earnings release expected on May 8, 2017.

On April 18, 2017, Oracle announced the acquisition of Moat. Founded in 2010, Moat has raised $67.5 million to date in four rounds from investors.

Wall Street analysts expect Pfizer’s (PFE) top line to rise 0.6% to ~$13.1 billion in 1Q17. Its earnings per share are expected to be $0.67 in the quarter.

Baker Hughes (BHI) released its weekly US crude oil rig count on April 28, 2017. It reported that crude oil rigs rose by nine to 697 on April 21–28, 2017.

Among the leveraged mining funds, the Direxion Daily Gold Miners ETF (NUGT) and the Proshares Ultra Silver ETF (AGQ) have seen considerable losses over the past month.

Under Armour’s (UAA) stock rose 10% as the company reported better-than-expected 1Q17 top and bottom lines and maintained its fiscal 2017 guidance.

Newbuild vessel prices fell in March 2017. We saw in our last month’s series that newbuild vessel prices also fell in February.

According to data from the EIA released on April 20, 2017, natural gas (GASX) (FCG) (GASL) inventories rose by 54 Bcf during the week ending April 14, 2017.

Salesforce meets or exceeds analyst expectations Earlier in this series, we discussed Salesforce’s (CRM) initiatives and the threat posed by Microsoft (MSFT), Adobe (ADBE), and Oracle (ORCL) in the cloud space. Despite this mounting competition, with each passing quarter, Salesforce has managed to increase its revenue guidance. Earlier, Salesforce expected revenue of $10.1 billion–$10.15 billion […]

According to the Weber Weekly Report, VLCC rates on the benchmark route rose from $32,439 per day on April 13, 2017, to $38,884 per day on April 21, 2017.

The EIA estimates that OECD’s crude oil inventories fell by 7.69 MMbbls (million barrels) to 2,977 MMbbls in March 2017—compared to the previous month.

VFC stock is currently trading at $56.44, which is ~17.0% below its 52-week high price.

As of April 21, 2017, there are five analysts tracking Novartis. Of those, two have recommended a “strong buy,” and one has recommended a “buy.”

Another important phenomenon that played on the fall of precious metals on Wednesday, April 19, was the upswing of the US dollar.

Strong Chinese iron ore imports China imported 95.6 million tons of iron ore in March, compared with 83.5 million tons in February 2017. This figure implies a strong growth of 11% year-over-year (or YoY). This number is also the second-highest monthly amount on record. China imported 96.3 million tons of iron ore in December 2015. […]

Approximately 53% of the analysts rate Noble Energy (NBL) as a “buy” and 32.3% rate it as a “hold.” The average broker target price is $47.47.

The EIA reported that US natural gas inventories rose by 54 Bcf to 2,115 Bcf on April 7–14, 2017. Inventories rose 2.6% week-over-week but fell 14.8% YoY.

Phillips 66 has been rated by 19 analysts. Of those, four (or 21.0%) have given it a “buy” or “strong buy” rating.

On April 19, Cabot Oil and Gas’s short interest as a percentage of its float was ~4.5%. At the beginning of the year, its short interest ratio was 4.2%.

As global tumult grips markets and investors turn to mining stocks as safe havens, it’s crucial to understand which stocks are closely tied to precious metals.

Genesee & Wyoming’s (GWR) European carloads rose to 9.0% YoY (year-over-year) in March 2017.

Since the French elections are right around the corner, investors might start parking their money in safe-haven assets like gold.

Markets these days are concerned about geopolitical risks more than ever, given the rapid growth in globalization and the interconnections between global markets.

Of the 19 analysts covering MPC, 17 (89%) analysts have assigned “buy” or “strong buy” ratings, while two (11%) have assigned “hold” ratings.

Of the 21 analysts covering Valero Energy (VLO), 12 (57%) analysts have assigned “buy” or “strong buy” ratings, while nine (43%) have assigned “hold” ratings.

Leveraged mining funds including the Direxion Daily Gold Miners (NUGT) and the Proshares Ultra Silver (AGQ) saw big jumps in early 2017 due to the revival in precious metals.

On a 30-day trailing basis, gold, silver, platinum, and palladium have risen 6.8%, 1.7%, 3.3%, and 5.5%, respectively.

The third element of Elliott Funds’ “value unlock” plan for BHP Billiton (BHP) (BBL) is the adoption of a policy of consistent and optimized capital returns to shareholders.

Elliott Funds has proposed unifying BHP Billiton’s (BHP) (BBL) dual-listing structure into a single Australian-headquartered and Australian tax resident–listed company.

VLO’s mean price target of $72 per share implies around a 10% gain from its current level.