The PBR1000 July 2016 Stocks/Commodities Snapshots

August 8, 2016 by

July 2016: The 2nd Half Race Starts

Hurdle Race 92784-20131105

Which The PBR1000 Companies Will Win the Race for Gold?

By Larry C. Paxton

As July 2016 progressed there was less attention to Brexit issues because it became clear that it is not an immediate outcome. While it is generally accepted that there will be some long term consequences, they do not appear to be as severe as originally presented by opponents to this action and as reported by the media. The sky will not fall and life will go on with mild effects on people and economies in general. 

Earnings reports continue to be mixed and economic indices continue to show moderate growth in the U.S. There continue to be concerns that this is somewhat fragile. For example, a key driver of the U.S.  economy is the price of oil, which continues to fluctuate in an unpredictable manner.

The major US Stock Exchanges had a good month, all showing positive results from the previous month, YTD, and since 12/31/14. The NASDAQ had the most positive trading days, with 14 out of 20, S&P500 13, and the DJIA 12. The DJIA had a 9 day gain streak in the middle of the month, but that was followed by a 5 day losing streak to end the month.

The PBR1000 companies in The Top 5 Tables continue to be spread across a wide variety of industries.

Let’s see if The PBR1000 and U.S. markets can have as good of an August as our Olympians will!

If you are not a current Subscriber to the highly acclaimed The PBR1000 Snapshots  just click here to get your 13 month subscription and automatically download the July 2016 edition.

The following partial tables are excerpts from The PBR1000 July Snapshots. The stock price is for the close of trading on July 29th, Month % Chg is compared to June 30th, YTD % Chg is compared toDecember 31, 2015, and the 19 Months % Chg is compared to December 31, 2014.

Table 1(S11): The PBR1000 Top 5 Month Stock Price % Gainers

Table 1 Summary: The range was +65.53% to -68.25%. 742 out of 1,004 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 73.90% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 4.13%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
07/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 19 Mos
% Chg
Cloud Peak Energy
 997 CLD 3.41 +65.53 +63.94 -62.85
US Steel
 228 X 27.49 +63.05 +244.49 +2.80
Cenveo
 895 CVC 9.80 +50.08 +40.60 -41.67
Groupon
 632 GRPN 4.82 +48.31 +57.00 -41.65
Harsco
 898 HSC 9.79 +47.44 +24.24 -48.17

 

Table 2(S12): The PBR1000 Top 5 Year-To-Date Stock Price % Gainers

Table 2 Summary: The range was +400.63% to -97.45%. 685 out of 1,003 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 68.30% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 9.60%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
07/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 19 Mos
% Chg
Cliffs Natural Resources
 842 CLF 7.91 +39.51 +400.63 +10.78
US Steel 228 X 27.49 +63.05 +244.49 +2.80
AK Steel 351 AKS 6.56 +40.77 +192.86 +10.44
Quad/Graphics 478 QUAD 25.36 +8.89 +172.69 +10.45
CONSOL Energy 633 CNX 19.38 +20.45 +145.32 -42.68

Table 3(S13): The PBR1000 Top 5 19 Months Stock Price % Gainers

Table 3 Summary: Range was +184.79% to -99.33%. 494 out of 997 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 49.55% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of 0.40%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
07/29/15		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 19 Mos
% Chg
NVIDIA
 454 NVSA 57.10 +21.46 +73.24 +184.79
AMD 536 AMD 6.86 +33.46 +139.02 +156.93
Amazon 18 AMZN 758.81 +6.04 +12.27 +144.50
Newmont Mining 320 NEM 44.00 +12.47 +144.58 +132.80
Insperity 722 NSP 78.49 +1.63 +63.01 +131.60

Table 4(S15): The PBR1000 Top 5 Market Capitalization

Table 4 Summary: Range was $562.02 billion to $0.00 billion. The average is $21.14 billion, medianis $6.34 billion, out of 1,003 companies tracked.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Market Cap($B)
07/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 19 Mos
% Chg
Apple
 3 AAPL 562.02 +7.33 -4.23 -13.19
Alphabet
 35 GOOG 527.82 +11.08 +1.13 +47.81
Microsoft
 25 MSFT 442.56 +10.03 -0.14 +15.58
ExxonMobil
 2 XOM 368.84 -5.11 +13.66 -5.79
Amazon 18 AMZN 358.03 +6.04 +13.00 +149.15
The PBR1000
   21,208.33 +3.30 +5.31 +3.12

Table 5: The PBR1000 Index & Selected Stock Exchanges/Commodities

Company Price
07/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 19 Mos
% Chg
The PBR1000 71,972.96 +3.71 +7.43 -1.73
DJIA 18,432.24 +2.80 +5.78 +3.42
NASDAQ 5,162.13 +6.60 +3.09 +9.00
S&P500 2,173.60 +3.56 +6.34 +5.57
GOLD 1,357.90 +1.50 +28.08 +14.60
SILVER 20.39 +5.54 +47.75 +30.71
OIL 41.38 -14.59 +11.72 -22.32

Have questions on The PBR1000 or The PBR US Economic Indices Monthly Snapshots? Please contact us at Sales@PBRMarketTools.com or call us at 520-282-4100.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @ThePBR1000.

(The PBR1000 provides astute investors and business professionals with the data, news, and analysis for taking higher probability of success actions. The PBR1000 covers over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administrative headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $13 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to Subscribers of The PBR1000. Subscribers include C-level executives, entrepreneurs, sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisers, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just click here to go to the PBRMarketTools.com Order page.)

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The PBR1000 June 2016 Stocks/Commodities Snapshots

July 24, 2016 by

June 2016: 1st Half & Brexit Surprise

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What Are The Implications of Brexit?

By Larry C. Paxton

June 2016 ended the 1st half of the year with a lot of drama in the closing days.

On June 23rd the British voters quite unexpectedly elected to leave the European Union, and the word “Brexit” became a recognized worldwide term. Initially stocks plummeted on the uncertainty of what this would mean for the UK, Europe, the US, and the world. After a couple of days of significant losses a recovery started after most investors realized that there would be a smooth transition in the UK leadership, that Brexit would take a while to accomplish, and even though the economics are uncertain, there was no need to panic.

In terms of US stock exchanges most days in the month fluctuated between -0.50% to +0.50% from the previous day. NASDAQ had 10 of 22 trading days in that range, overall had 11 up days and 11 down days and was the most affected by Brexit, with 2 days having a loss of more than 2.00%, and then 2 days with a gain of over 1.50%. NASDAQ was the only loser for the month.

As you can see from the tables below The PBR1000 companies in The Top 5 Tables are spread across a wide variety of industries, a good sign.

At this time it appears that the Federal Reserve will not increase funds rates for some time due to the uncertainties of the markets worldwide and modest at best growth of the US economy.

Now the 2nd half of 2016 starts, it’s anybody’s guess about how it will unfold, and opinions are all over the place. We look forward to yours!

If you are not a current Subscriber to the highly acclaimed The PBR1000 Snapshots  just click here to get your 13 month subscription and automatically download the June 2016 edition.

The following partial tables are excerpts from The PBR1000 June Snapshots. The stock price is for the close of trading on June 30th, Month % Chg is compared to May 31st, YTD % Chg is compared to December 31, 2015, and the 18 Months % Chg is compared to December 31, 2014.

Table 1(S11): The PBR1000 Top 5 Month Stock Price % Gainers

Table 1 Summary: The range was +92.50% to -40.00%. 469 out of 1,009 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 46.48% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of 0.67%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
06/30/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 18 Mos
% Chg
Aeropostale
 931 ARO 0.08 +92.50 -72.50 -96.68
iHeartMedia
 377 IHRT 0.92 +41.30 +44.44 -82.31
Axiall
 599 AXLL 32.61 +40.02 +111.75 -23.22
LinkedIn
 655 LNKD 189.25 +38.64 -15.92 -17.61
Peabody Energy
 415 BTUUQ 1.37 +35.64 -82.16 -98.82

Table 2(S12): The PBR1000 Top 5 Year-To-Date Stock Price % Gainers

Table 2 Summary: The range was +258.86% to -97.25%. 618 out of 1,009 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 61.25% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 5.62%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
06/30/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 18 Mos
% Chg
Cliffs Natural Resources
 842 CLF 4.28 +32.48 +258.86 -20.59
Quad/Graphics
 478 QUAD 19.21 +21.24 +150.43 +1.44
Newmont Mining
 320 NEM 32.41 +20.70 +117.45 +106.98
Axiall
 599 AXLL 23.29 +40.02 +111.75 -23.22
US Steel
 228 X 14.47 +16.52 +111.28 -36.95

Table 3(S13): The PBR1000 Top 5 18 Months Stock Price % Gainers

Table 3 Summary: Range was +134.46% to -99.28%. 441 out of 1,002 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 44.01% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of 4.17%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
06/30/15		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 18 Mos
% Chg
NVIDIA
 454 NVDA 47.01 +0.62 +42.63 +134.46
Amazon
 18 AMZN 715.62 -0.99 +5.88 +130.58
Insperity
 722 NSP 77.23 +7.31 +60.39 +127.88
Newmont Mining 320 NEM 39.12 +20.70 +117.45 +106.98
Skywest 635 SKYW 26.46 +12.12 +39.12 +99.25

Table 4(S15): The PBR1000 Top 5 Market Capitalization

Table 4 Summary: Range was $523.64 billion to $0.00 billion. The average is $20.41 billion, median is $6.19 billion, out of 1,007 companies tracked.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Market Cap($B)
06/30/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 18 Mos
% Chg
Apple
 3 AAPL 523.64 -4.27 -10.77 -19.12
Alphabet
 35 GOOG 475.16 -5.93 -8.96 +33.06
Microsoft
 25 MSFT 402.22 -3.45 -9.24 +5.05
ExxonMobil
 2 XOM 388.70 +5.30 +19.78 -0.72
Berkshire Hathaway
 4 BRK.B 350.05 +0.64 +7.55 -3.19
The PBR1000
   20,549.26 +0.08 +1.97 -0.14

Table 5: The PBR1000 Index & Selected Stock Exchanges/Commodities

Company Price
06/30/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 18 Mos
% Chg
The PBR1000 69,483.46 -0.18 +3.51 -1.36
DJIA 17,929.99 +0.80 +2.90 +0.60
NASDAQ 4,842.67 -2.13 -3.29 +2.25
S&P500 2,098.86 +0.09 +2.69 +1.94
Gold 1,337.80 +9.88 +26.18 +12.90
Silver 19.32 +20.83 +40.00 +23.85
Oil 48.45 -1.32 +30.80 -9.05

Have questions on The PBR1000 or The PBR US Economic Indices Monthly Snapshots? Please contact us at Sales@PBRMarketTools.com or call us at 520-282-4100.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @ThePBR1000.

(The PBR1000 provides astute investors and business professionals with the data, news, and analysis for taking higher probability of success actions. The PBR1000 covers over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administrative headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $13 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to Subscribers of The PBR1000. Subscribers include C-level executives, entrepreneurs, sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisers, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just click here to go to the PBRMarketTools.com Order page.)

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The PBR1000 May 2016 Stocks/Commodities Snapshots

July 4, 2016 by

May 2016: Oil Prices & Funds Rates

ID-100235617 Stock Market Chart-cooldesign

May 2016: A Quiet Month Compared To Its Reputation.

By Larry C. Paxton

May 2016 stock prices were a story of two halves. The first half fluctuated based on oil prices. In the second half this gave way to anticipation of what the Federal Reserve would do with the funds rate with a wide variety of opinions expressed.

Stock exchanges volatility were pretty consistent, most days fluctuating between -0.50% to +0.50% from the previous day. The DJIA and S&P500 both had 10 up days and 11 down days. NASDAQ had 9 down days and 12 up days, with a string of 5 up days to close out May.

As shown in Table 1 below, at the end of the month nearly 59% of The PBR1000 stocks were up for the month, with the Top 5 Gainers from across a variety of industry sectors, a contrast to April when the gainers were in oil related businesses.

In summary, May 2016 did not live up to its historical notorious reputation of being a downward trend month.

Let’s see what happens in June as we close out the first half of 2016.

If you are not a current Subscriber to highly acclaimed The PBR1000 Snapshots  just click here to get your 13 month subscription and automatically download the May 2016 edition.

The following partial tables are excerpts from The PBR1000 May Snapshots. The stock price is for the close of trading on May 31st, Month % Chg is compared to April 29th, YTD % Chg is compared to December 31, 2015, and the 17 Months % Chg is compared to December 31, 2014.

Table 1(S11): The PBR1000 Top 5 Month Stock Price % Gainers

Table 1 Summary: The range was +84.24% to -73.53%. 588 out of 1,002 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 58.68% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 1.22%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
05/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 17 Mos
% Chg
Cenveo
 892 CVO 0.96 +84.24 +9.90 -54.40
Quad/Graphics
 480 QUAD 19.21 +53.07 +106.56 -16.33
CSC
 220 CSC 49.20 +48.51 +50.55 -21.97
Tutor Perini
 464 TPC 22.62 +42.98 +35.13 -6.02
Insperity
 723 NSP 71.97 +36.38 +49.47 +112.36

Table 2(S12): The PBR1000 Top 5 Year-To-Date Stock Price % Gainers

Table 2 Summary: The range was +170.89% to -96.86%. 642 out of 1,002 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 64.07% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 5.75%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
05/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 17 Mos
% Chg
Cliffs Natural Resources
 840 CLF 4.28 -18.79 +170.89 -40.06
Quad/Graphics
 480 QUAD 19.21 +53.07 +106.56 -16.33
Denbury Resources
 973 DNR 4.01 +3.89 +98.51 -50.68
CONSOL Energy
 632 CNX 15.36 +2.06 +94.43 -54.57
Southwestern Energy
 629 SWN 13.67 +1.79 +92.26 -49.91

Table 3(S13): The PBR1000 Top 5 17 Months Stock Price % Gainers

Table 3 Summary: Range was +133.02% to -99.18%. 448 out of 999 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 44.84% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of -3.66%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
05/31/15		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 17 Mos
% Chg
NVIDIA
 456 NVDA 46.72 +31.49 +41.75 +133.02
Amazon
 18 AMZN 722.79 +9.58 +6.94 +132.90
Insperity
 723 NSP 71.97 +36.38 +49.47 +112.36
Netflix
 346 NFLX 102.57 +13.93 -10.33 +110.18
Activision Blizzard
 481 ATVI 39.26 +13.90 +1.42 +94.84

Table 4(S15): The PBR1000 Top 5 Market Capitalization

Table 4 Summary: Range was $546.98 billion to $0.00 billion. The average is $20.45 billion, median is $6.27 billion, out of 1,000 companies tracked.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Market Cap($B)
05/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 17 Mos
% Chg
Apple
 3 AAPL 546.98 +5.24 -6.80 -15.51
Alphabet
 35 GOOG 505.11 +5.89 -3.22 +41.45
Microsoft
 25 MSFT 416.60 +5.62 -6.00 +8.80
ExxonMobil
 2 XOM 369.13 +0.55 +13.75 -5.71
Berkshire Hathaway
 4 BRK.B 347.83 -3.40 +6.86 -3.81
The PBR1000
   20,494.71 +1.30 +1.90 -0.24

Table 5: The PBR1000 Index & Selected Stock Exchanges/Commodities

Company Price
05/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 17 Mos
% Chg
The PBR1000 69,291.59 +1.34 +3.77 -1.55
DJIA 17,787.20 +0.08 +2.08 -0.20
NASDAQ 4,948.05 +3.62 -1.19 +4.48
S&P500 2,096.96 +1.53 +2.59 +1.85
Gold 1,217.50 -5.98 +14.84 +2.75
Silver 15.99 -10.62 +15.87 +2.50
Oil 49.10 +6.76 +32.56 -7.83

Have questions on The PBR1000 or The PBR US Indices Monthly Snapshot? Please contact us at Sales@PBRMarketTools.com or call us at 520-282-4100.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @ThePBR1000.

(The PBR1000 provides astute investors and business professionals with the data, news, and analysis for taking higher probability of success actions. The PBR1000 covers over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administrative headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $13 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to Subscribers of The PBR1000. Subscribers include C-level executives, entrepreneurs, sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisers, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just click here to go to the PBRMarketTools.com Order page.)

(Photo made available by supakitmod, FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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The PBR1000 May 2016 Breaking News Recap

June 6, 2016 by

May 2016: Time to Heat Up?

Sun On White Background-lekkyjustdoit ID-100362768

Summer Is Coming! Temperatures are Rising, The Presidential Race is Heating Up, What will Business Do?

By Larry C. Paxton

The business mood in the U.S. didn’t make any dramatic shifts in May 2016. There was the usual mix of mergers/acquisitions, deals that broke up, executive leadership changes, and mixed economic data not only in the U.S., but in the world.

Oil prices were up again, but production and policies continued to be unpredictable.

In the last half of May there was a lot of speculation on whether or not the Fed would raise the funds interest rate in June with a prevailing sense that economic data is showing enough strength to justify such an action.

The Presidential Race Primaries Season is coming to an end. At this time it looks like it will be a very volatile general campaign, with neither candidate having a favorable rating by the public and it is difficult to know how business in the U.S. and globally will react.

With that it is appropriate to note that June is the month when summer officially starts and temperatures rise. Let’s see if business heats up as well.

Following are The PBR1000 and economic related breaking news items of interest for May 2016, starting with the last active day.

Tuesday, May 31:

The PBR1000 End of May US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends May at 17,787.20, -0.48% from last Friday, +0.08% MTD, +0.58% QTD, +2.08% YTD, -2.87% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends May at 4,948.05, +0.29% from last Friday, +3.62% MTD, +1.61% QTD, -1.19% YTD, -5.19% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends May at 2,096.06, -0.10% from last Friday, +1.53% MTD, +1.81% QTD, +2.59% YTD, -1.59% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Freeport-McMoRan(PBR128) completes $1.0 billion cash sale of 13% interest in Morenci Mine to Sumitoma Metal Mining. $FCX PR link.

Whirlpool(PBR138) launches Vessi Fermentor home beer system exclusively through Indiegogo crowdfunding. $WHR PR link.

Viacom(PBR212 $VIA) board is ready to fight off Redstone family. MarketWatch PR link.

MGM Resorts(PBR273) to acquire Boyd Gaming(PBR727 $BYD) 50% ownership in Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, for $900 milllion. $MGM PR link.

Office Depot(PBR182) authorizes 12 month up to $100 million shares buyback program. $ODP PR link.

Coca-Cola Enterprises(PBR327) combines with CCIP & CCEAG, now Coca-Cola European Partners, creates largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world. $CCE PR link.

Ashland(PBR407) to spinoff Valvoline as separate public company, then reorganize as Ashland Global Holdings. $ASH PR link.

Cliffs Natural Resources(PBR518) gets new deal to supply ArcelorMittal USA tailor-made iron ore pellets through 2026. $CLF PR link.

Great Plains Energy(PBR757) to acquire Westar Energy(PBR747 $WR) in $60.00/share, $12.2 bllion cash/stock deal. $GXP PR link.

SemGroup(PBR866) to acquire Rose Rock Midstream(NYSE: RRMS) in all stock deal. $SEMG PR link.

Staples(PBR122) CEO Ron Sargent stepping down on 06/14/16, Shira Goodman, president N American Operations to be interim CEO. $SPLS PR link.

Newell Brands(PBR434) hires Fiona Laird as EVP & Chief Human Relations & Communications Officer. $NWL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates April Total Personal Income Annual Rate at $15.859 trillion, personal savings rate at 5.4%, March was 5.9%. USDOC PR link.

The S&P/Case-Shiller March National Home Price Index at 176.91, up from February’s 175.64(2000=100). SP/CS PR link.

The May MNI Chicago PMI at 49.3, down from April’s 50.4. MNI/ISM PR link.

The Conference Board says May Consumer Confidence Index is 92.6, April was 94.7(1985=100). TCB PR link.

FreddieMac(PBR41) in May Insight discusses Price-To-Income in light of 5.6% avg annual house price increases. $FMCC PR link.

Monday, May 30:
***Memorial Day***
***US Stock Markets Closed***
***Remember and Honor
our Fallen Heroes.***

Friday, May 27:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,873.22, +2.13% from last week, +0.56% MTD, +1.06% QTD, +2.75% YTD, -2.40% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,933.50, +3.44% from last week, +3.31% MTD, +1.31% QTD, -1.48% YTD, -5.47% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,099.06, +2.28% from last week, +1.63% MTD, +1.91% QTD, +2.70% YTD, -1.49% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Thermo Fisher Scientific(PBR175) to acquire high performance electron microscopy provider FEI Company(NASDAQ: FEIC) for $107.50/share, $4.2 billion cash. $TMO PR link.

Terex(PBR357) terminates acquisition by Zoomlion, MHPS sale to Konecranes to proceed. $TEX PR link.

NCR(PBR383) completes first phase of sale of Interactive Printer Solutions Division, to be called Iconex, to Atlas Holdings. $NCR PR link.

Graham Holdings(PBR615) to acquire Jacksonville, FL, CW TV affiliate WCWJ & Roanoke, VA, NBC TV affiliate WSLS for $60 million. $GHC PR link.

ON Semiconductor(PBR656) extends $20/share, $2.4 billion cash tender offer for Fairchild Semiconductor(PBR1000 $FCS) to 06/09/16, currently has commitment of 36.4% of shares. http://bit.ly/1TMU2RI$ON PR link.

PC Connection(PBR786) acquires 200+ employees, $200 million/yr Philadelphia based global IT & services solutions provider Softmart. $PCCC PR link.

Brocade Communications(PBR845) completes $14.43/share, $1.5 billion cash/stock acquisition of Ruckus Wireless(NYSE: $RKUS). $BRCD PR link.

BB&T(PBR277) Crump Life Insurance unit to promote Rob Carney to president 07/01/16, succeeds leaving Brian Winikoff. $BBT PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says 1Q16 Gross Domestic Product Annual Rate revised from 0.5% to 0.8%, $18.230 trillion. USDOC PR link.

The University of Michigan Final May Index of Consumer Sentiment at 94.7, up from April’s 89.0. UMich PR link.

Thursday, May 26:

Microsoft(PBR31 $MSFT) & Facebook(PBR228) to build an innovative new subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean. $FB PR link.

Alphabet(PBR44 $GOOG)’s Google beats Oracle(PBR78 $ORCL) in landmark case over use of Java APIs in Android. MarketWatch PR link.

Energy Transfer Equity(PBR52) files counterclaims to Williams Cos(PBR348 $WMB), seeks court ruling allowing $37.6 billion merger termination. $ETE PR link.

Sears Holdings(PBR93) exploring alternatives to expand its brands; CFO to leave when successor named. $SHLD PR link.

Global Partners(PBR169) to sell 31 non-strategic gasoline stations/convenience stores in NY & Pennsylvania to Mirabito Holdings. $GLP PR link.

Core-Mark(PBR271) to do 2:1 stock split on 06/27/16. $CORE PR link.

Brown-Forman(PBR563) to do 2:1 stock split around 08/08/16 assuming stockholder approval. $BF PR link.

Pinnacle Entertainment(PBR844) EVP/General Counsel & Secretary John Godfrey tor retire 06/30/16, Donna Negrotto is successor. $PNK PR link.

Wendy’s(PBR877) appoints Todd Penegor as president/CEO, succeeds retiring Emil Brolick. $WEN PR link.

Deckers Outdoors(PBR929) to promote Dave Powers to CEO, effective 05/31/16, succeeds Angel Martinez who will remain chairman. $DECK PR link.

Rackspace(PBR935) promotes Carla Sublett to SVP & Chief Marketing Officer. $RAX PR link.

New York Times(PBR971) hires Ellen Shultz as EVP, Talent & Inclusion. $NYT PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims for week ending 05/21/16 was 268,000, -10,000 from 05/14/16 USDOL PR link.

FreddieMac(PBR41) says 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Average Rate at 3.64%, 15 Year 2.89%, 5/1 Year ARM 2.87%. $FMCC PR link.

Investing: Five principles for strategic investment planning. MarketWatch PR link.

Wednesday, May 25:

Amazon(PBR29) to open 2nd fulfillment center in Joliet, IL, add 2,000 fulltime jobs. $AMZN PR link.

Amazon(PBR29) to add fulfillment centers in Tracy & Eastvale, CA, add 1,500 fulltime jobs. $AMZN PR link.

Microsoft(PBR31) to restructure smartphone business, includes 1,350 workforce reduction in Finland, 500 more globally. $MSFT PR link.

Baker Hughes(PBR108) announces simplified organization restructuring plans & several leadership changes. $BHI PR link.

Madison Square Garden(NYSE: MSG) & Las Vegas Sands(PBR197) & others to develop a 400,000 sf 17,500 seat Las Vegas music venue. $LVS PR link.

Travelers Cos(PBR104) promotes Greg Toczydlowski to president, Business Insurance; longtime executive Doreen Spadorcia to retire 09/01/16. $TRV PR link.

Sumner Redstone’s refusal to cede control has left Viacom(PBR212 $VIA) with an uncertain future. MarketWatch PR link.

Edison International(PBR216) chairman/president/CEO Theodore Craver, Jr, to retire 09/30/16, Pedro Pizarro to be CEO; CFO to retire, other leadership changes announced. $EIX PR link.

Economy: These are the states that are suffering while most of the U.S. booms. MarketWatch PR link.

Tuesday, May 24:

AIG(PBR46) launches a new equity crowdfunding insurance product to protect investors. $AIG PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR184) consolidates $100+ million/yr media planning & buying with Omnicom(PBR192 $OMC) PHD. $CCL PR link.

Monsanto(PBR187) says Bayer AG(XETRA: BAY) $122/share, $62 billion offer is incomplete & financially inadequate, open for further discussion. $MON PR link.

Computer Sciences(PBR237) to acquire Enterprise Services segment of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, creates $26 billion/yr global IT services company. $CSC PR link.

TreeHouse Foods(PBR690) to close 660 employee Azusa, CA, plant in 2017, 60 employee Ripon, WI, plant in late 2016.$THS PR link.

Devry Education(PBR905) subsidiary Becker Professional Education to acquire anti-money laundering/financial crime prevention international membership organization ACAMS for $330 million. $DV PR link.

GoPro(PBR1010) to be Red Bull’s exclusive point of view camera & content provider through exclusive global partnership. $GPRO PR link.

Best Buy(PBR73) CAO/CFO Sharon McCollam stepping down 06/14/16, Corie Barry to be CFO, other promotions announced. $BBY PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR107) names Kevin Young CBE as COO, Martin Silverstein, MD, as EVP-Strategy. $GILD PR link.

ConAgra(PBR166) EVP/CFO John Gehring is retiring after 14 years with company, will stay until successor on board. $CAG PR link.

YRC Worldwide(PBR472) hires Justin Hall as Chief Customer Officer, reports to CEO. $YRCW PR link.

Devry Education(PBR905) names Lisa Wardell president/CEO, succeeds leaving Daniel Hamburger. $DV PR link.

The US Dept of HUD estimates April Single-Family Houses Sales at a 619,000 annual rate, +16.6% from March, +23.8% from April 2015. HUD PR link.

Monday, May 23:

GE(PBR9 $GE) to invest $1.4 billion in Saudi Arabia. MarketWatch PR link.

Boeing(PBR27) & Vietnam’s VietJet close $11.3 billion deal for 100 737 MAX 200 airplanes. $BA PR link.

DuPont(PBR82) & Dow Chemical(PBR48 $DOW) announce senior leadership appointments for merged DowDupont, expected to close 2H2016. $DD PR link.

ConAgra(PBR166) selling its Spicetec Favors & Seasonings business to Givaudan for $340 million. $CAG PR link.

Germany based Bayer AG(XETRA: BAY) confirms cash offer for Monsanto(PBR187 $MON), $122/share, $62 billion. $BAY PR link.

Viacom(PBR212) CEO, director file suit to block changes to Redstone trust. MarketWatch PR link.

Computer Sciences(PBR237) to acquire Europe technology services company Aspediens. $CSC PR link.

KBR(PBR395) to acquire government services technology company Wyle for $570 million cash. $KBR PR link.

Tribune Publishing rejects Gannett(PBR414) $15/share offer, gets $70.5 million investment from Nant Capital. $TPUB PR link.

Airgas(PBR461) $143/share, $13.4 billion cash acquisition by France based Air Liquide(Euronext Paris: AI) is completed. $ARG PR link.

LINN Energy(PBR484) & LINNCo to be delisted by NASDAQ on 05/24/16, to continue on OTC as LINEQ & LNCOQ. $LINE PR link.

CF Industries(PBR502) & Netherlands based OCI terminate $8 billion merger agreement, new U.S. Treasury policies cancel out synergies. $CF PR link.

Varian Medical(PBR678) to spin off imaging components business as an independent public company by end of 2016. $VAR PR link.

American Capital Agency(PBR992) to acquire its external manager, American Capital Mortgage Management, for $562 million cash. $AGNCP PR link.

CSX(PBR226) announces 4 senior operations executives promotions. $CSX PR link.

Abercrombie & Fitch(PBR595) hires Stacia Andersen as Brand President of A&F and abercrombie kids, Kristin Scott as Brand President of Hollister, both report to A&F Chief Merchandising Officer. $ANF PR link.

Alliant Energy(PBR634) hires Dirk Mahling as VP of Technology. $LNT PR link.

Rent A Center(PBR657) hires Angela Yochem as SVP/IT & CIO. $RCII PR link.

Investing: 7 unmistakable signs that a bear market is approaching. MarketWatch PR link.

Consumerism: Overconsumption is biggest threat to the American Dream. MarketWatch PR link.

Auto Loans: Second credit-ratings agency flags increased stress in auto-loan market. MarketWatch PR link.

Eurozone PMIs show economic activity slowing. MarketWatch PR link.

Friday, May 20:

The PBR1000 Week Ending 05/20/16 US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,500.94, -0.20% from last week, -1.53% MTD, -1.04% QTD, +0.44% YTD, -4.43% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,769.56, +1.10% from last week, -0.12% MTD, -2.06% QTD, -4.75% YTD, -8.61% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,052.32, +0.28% from last week, -0.63% MTD, -0.36% QTD, +0.41% YTD, -3.68% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

SunEdison(PBR782 $SUNE) creditors to conduct bankruptcy probe. MarketWatch PR link.

Lowe’s(PBR50) completes $2.4 billion acquisition of 496 corporate/dealer owned locations Canadian home improvement retailer/distributor RONA. $LOW PR link.

Stepan(PBR904) to close 30 employee Longford Mills, Canada, location by end of 2016. $SCL PR link.

Knowles Corp(PBR1048) to sell its mobile consumer electronics speaker and receiver product line to Loyal Valley Innovation Capital. $KNL PR link.

Berkshire Hathaway(PBR4 $BRKA) names Kara Raiguel to lead General Re unit. MarketWatch PR link.

CSX(PBR226) VP Cressie Brown to be SVP/Chief Admin Officer & Kathleen Brandt to be SVP/CIO, effective 07/01/16. $CSX PR link.

Carlisle Cos(PBR650) promotes Kevin Zdimal to VP of Business Development. $CSL PR link.

Gross Domestic Product: Moody’s downgrades U.S. 2016 growth forecast to 2% from 2.3%. MarketWatch PR link.

The Natl Assn of Realtors estimates April Median House Price at $232,500, +5.0% from March, +6.3% from April 2015 NAR PR link.

Innovation: The fix for secular stagnation is innovation — not tax cuts or fiscal spending. MarketWatch PR link.

Retirement: Here’s where the most retirees are moving — and why . MarketWatch PR link.

Retail: These retailers are profiting off the ‘Amazon effect.’ MarketWatch PR link.

Retail: Since no one is buying clothes, here’s what stores are selling instead. MarketWatch PR link.

New food labels: This could make you care more about the calories in your food. MarketWatch PR link.

Thursday, May 19:

Gap Inc(PBR179) to close 53 Old Navy stores in Japan & 22 Banana Republic stores globally. $GPS PR link.

FMC Technologies(PBR334) and France based Technip(Euronext: TEC) to merge as oil services TechnipFMC with equity value of $13 billion. $FTI PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Charlotte, NC, Eastern US hospital/healthcare retail insurance broker McNeary. $AJG PR link.

Panera Bread(PBR768 $PNRA) authorizes $600 million over 3 years shares repurchase program.

Advance Auto Parts(PBR279) CFO Mike Norona to leave upon hiring of a successor. $AAP PR link.

Pioneer Natural Resources(PBR476) president/COO Timothy Love to become president/CEO on 12/31/16, chairman/CEO Scott Sheffield to be executive chairman. $PXD PR link.

Economy: Moody’s downgrades U.S. 2016 growth forecast to 2% from 2.3%. MarketWatch PR link.

Philadelphia Fed says May Manufacturing Diffusion Index at -1.8, April was -1.6, but outlook is positive. PhillyFed PR link.

The Conference Board estimates April Leading Economic Index at 123.9, March was 123.1. TCB PR link.

Retail-Food: Does Wal-Mart(PBR1) have a buffer against Amazon(PBR29) in food? MarketWatch PR link.

International Trade: Obama-backed trade deal would give U.S. economy modest boost, study finds. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Four reasons for investors to buy biotechnology stocks now. MarketWatch PR link.

The Dollar: 5 reasons the dollar will get stronger. MarketWatch PR link.

Gasoline Prices: Gasoline eyes lowest Memorial Day weekend prices in over a decade. MarketWatch PR link.

Housing: The zombie mortgage apocalypse recedes as housing regroups. MarketWatch PR link.

Wednesday, May 18:

General Motors(PBR8 $GM) ends production of Cadillac electric coupe. MarketWatch PR link.

Microsoft(PBR31) selling feature phone business to FIH Mobile Ltd. and HMD Global, Oy for $350 million. $MSFT PR link.

FedEx(PBR65) meets all conditions for $4.8 billion cash acquisition of Netherlands based TNT Express, to close 05/25/16. $FDX PR link.

TJX Cos(PBR96) wants to open thousands more stores. $TJX PR link.

Medtronic(PBR133) to expand minimally invasive therapy portfolio with $350 million acquisition of gynecology business from Smith & Nephew. $MDT PR link.

Monsanto(PBR187) confirms it is reviewing unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Bayer AG. $MON PR link.

Liberty Interactive(PBR263) completes $2.4 billion investment in Liberty Broadband(NASDAQ: LBRDA) in support of Charter(PBR297)-Time Warner Cable(PBR119) merger. $QVCA PR link.

Hormel Foods(PBR293) to acquire nut butter-based snacks provider Justin’s, terms not disclosed. $HRL PR link.

Charter Communications(PBR297) completes $78.7 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable(PBR119) & Bright House Networks. $CHTR PR link.

CBRE(PBR301) to acquire 49% of leading Malayasia real estate services firm C H Williams & Wong Malaysia. $CBG PR link.

The Andersons(PBR525) rejects as undervalued unsolicited $35, then $37/share offer from HC2. $ANDE PR link.

Tesla(PBR651) to sell 8.2 million shares of common stock @$204/share to accelerate production of Model 3. $TSLA PR link.

Federal Reserve releases FOMC minutes from 04/26-27/16 meeting, funds rate remains 0.25-0.50%, increase open for June meeting. FRB PR link.

FreddieMac(PBR41) in May Outlook says low mortgage rates keep housing on track during rapidly rising house prices. $FMCC PR link.

Compensation: New overtime rules will help workers, their families, and the economy. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: This market is under long-term distribution, not consolidation. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Believe it or not, investing has never been so simple. MarketWatch PR link.

Housing: The minimum salary you need to afford the rent in these 15 cities. MarketWatch PR link.

Tuesday, May 17:

Alphabet(PBR44) unveils program for carpooling via app Waze, fraying ties with Uber. MarketWatch PR link.

Peabody Energy(PBR372) receives final approval from US Bankruptcy Court for $800 million Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) financing facility. $BTUUQ PR link.

Target(PBR40) hires Mark Tritton as EVP/Chief Merchandising Officer, promotes Jason Goldberger as Chief Digital Officer and president of Target.com. $TGT PR link.

The US Dept of Labor estimates April Current Average Weekly Earnings at $880.79, +0.61% from March, +2.5% from April 2015 USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Labor estimates April Consumer Price Index was +0.4% from March, +1.1% over last 12 months. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of HUD estimates April Private Housing Building Permits Issued Annual Rate was 1,116,000, +3.6% from March, -5.3% from April 2015. HUD PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank estimates April Industrial Production Index(2012=100) at 104.1, +0.7% from March, -1.1% from April 2015. FRB PR link.

Adobe(PBR557) says its April Consumer Goods Digital Price Index was -0.2% to -2.4% from March, except for hotels. $ADBE PR link.

Housing: Millennials and retirees drawn to luxury rentals, and developers respond. MarketWatch PR link.

Financial Planning: This is No. 1 financial regret of older Americans. MarketWatch PR link.

Transportation: Why cities aren’t ready for the driverless car. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Investors throw in the towel on stocks. MarketWatch PR link.

The Dollar: 5 reasons the dollar will get stronger. MarketWatch PR link.

Monday, May 16:

McKesson(PBR6) and Walmart(PBR1 $WMT) announce sourcing agreement for generic pharmaceuticals. $MCK PR link.

Energy Transfer Equity(PBR52) responds to 3rd Williams Cos(PBR348 $WMB) lawsuit that might delay $37.6 billion merger. $ETE PR link.

Pfizer(PBR56) to acquire inflammation/immunology providor Anacor Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: ANAC) for $99.25/share, $5.2 billion cash. $PFE PR link.

Terex(PBR357) to sell Material Handling/Port Solutions business to Finland based Konecranes for $1.3 billion cash/stock. $TEX PR link.

Gannett(PBR414) ups bid for Tribune Publishing(NYSE: TPUB) from $12.25/share to $15.00/share. $GCI PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Westlake Village, CA, retail insurance broker Hogan Insurance Services, terms not disclosed. $AJG PR link.

Range Resources(PBR726) to acquire N. Louisiana natural gas/oil company Memorial Resource Development Corp(NASDAQ: MRD) for $15.75/share, $4.4 billion cash. RRC PR link.

Equinix(PBR793) to divest eight European assets to Digital Realty Trust(NYSE: DLR) for $874.4 million. $EQIX PR link.

Brown & Brown(PBR972) to acquire assets of $34 million/year insurance products provider Morstan General Agency. $BRO PR link.

Empire State Manufacturing Survey, May 2016: Business activity declined; May index -9.0. NYFRB PR link.

NAHB/Wells Fargo May National Housing Market Index at 58, 4th straight month. NAHB PR link.

Investing: A new class of investor can now invest in startups. MarketWatch PR link.

Home Loans: HELOC values soar as equity rebounds and move-up options dwindle. MarketWatch PR link.

Retirement Investing: The inventor of the 401(k) says he created a ‘monster’. MarketWatch PR link.

Friday, May 13:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,535.32, -1.16% from last week, -1.34% MTD, -0.85% QTD, +0.63% YTD, -4.24% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,717.68, -0.39% from last week, -1.21% MTD, -3.12% QTD, -5.79% YTD, -9.60% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,046.61, -0.51% from last week, -0.90% MTD, -0.64% QTD, +0.13% YTD, -3.95% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

The PBR1000 Preliminary New Annual Rankings
Following are the top 10 of the new anticipated rankings, by last fiscal year revenues reported through April, 2016(revenues rounded to nearest billion, previous annual ranking in parentheses). Rankings are updated monthly, the Annual Rankings are used for news items references.

1, Walmart, $482B(1)
2. ExxonMobil, $269B(2)
3. Apple, $234B(5)
4. Berkshire Hathaway, $211B(4)
5. McKesson Corp, $179B(6)
6. UnitedHealth Group, $157B(14)
7. CVS Health, $153B(11)
8. General Motors, $152B(8)
9. Ford Motor, $150B(10)
10. AT&T, $147B(12)

The preliminary rankings will be in the The PBR1000 April Snapshots, which will be released during the week of May 16th.

Apple(PBR5) makes $1 billion investment in Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing. MarketWatch PR link.

Mylan(PBR346) to acquire the non-sterile, topicals-focused specialty and generics business of Renaissance Acquisition Holdings for $950 million cash. $MYL PR link.

Williams Cos(PBR348) files lawsuit to prevent Energy Transfer Equity(PBR52 $ETE) from avoiding its obligations under the $37.6 billion merger agreement. $WMB PR link.

Newell Brands(PBR434) opening new global headquarters in Hoboken, NJ, in the fall 2016. $NWL PR link.

Albemarle(PBR792) promotes Karen Narwold to EVP/Chief Administrative Officer. $ALB PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says April Final Demand Producer Price Index was +0.2% from March, 12 month change is 0.0%. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates March Total Value of Distributive Trade Sales at $1.289.2 trillion, +0.3% from February, -1.7% from March 2015. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says April Advance Estimates of US Retail & Food Services Sales were $453.4 billion, +1.3% from March, +3.0% from April 2015. USDOC PR link.

The U of Michigan Preliminary May Surveys of Consumer Index is at 95.8, April Final was 89.0. UMich PR link.

Healthcare: Drug prices rising at fastest pace since Viagra’s introduction, PPI shows. MarketWatch PR link.

Commerce: Monopolies once again dominate our weak and unequal economy. MarketWatch PR link.

Oil: OPEC sees rival oil production declining as markets rebalance. MarketWatch PR link.

Eurozone economy growing slower than thought. MarketWatch PR link.

Retail: Traditional retailers stumble in their efforts to compete with Amazon(PBR29 $AMZN). MarketWatch PR link.

Thursday, May 12:

Honeywell(PBR74) to spinoff $1.3 billion/year resins & chemicals business to shareholders as independent public company named AdvanSix by early 2017. $HON PR link.

Charter Communications(PBR297) gets final regulatory approval for $78.7 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable(PBR119 $TWC) & Bright House Networks, to close 05/18/16. $CHTR PR link.

Starwood Hotels(PBR417) completes sale of Vistana Signatures Experiences to Interval Leisure Group in stock/cash deal. $HOT PR link.

KB Home(PBR802) to exit metro Washington, DC, market. $KBH PR link.

Alcoa(PBR115) promotes Karl Tragl to group president, Engineered Products & Solutions, succeeds leaving Olivier Jarrault. $AA PR link.

Progressive Corp(PBR145) to promote Tricia Griffith to president/CEO, effective 07/01/16, succeeds retiring Glenn Renwick who remains executive chairman. $PGR PR link.

Genesco(PBR702) hires David Baxter as SVP & president/CEO of Lids Sports Group, effective 06/01/16. $GCO PR link.

HCP(PBR831) hires Tom Herzog as EVP & CFO, effective 06/27/16, succeeds leaving Tim Schoen. $HCP PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says US Imports Prices Index was +0.3% in April, same as in March, -5.7% for past 12 months. USDOL PR link.

Retail: Traditional retailers stumble in their efforts to compete with Amazon(PBR29). MarketWatch PR link.

Wednesday, May 11:

LINN Energy(PBR484) & affiliates file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to continue business as usual during restructuring. $LINE PR link.

Jack in the Box(PBR987) promotes Keith Guilbault to brand president at Qdoba Mexican Eats subsidiary, succeeds leaving Tim Casey. $JACK PR link.

The US Dept of Treasury says April Receipts/Outlays at $438.4 billion/$332.0 billion, Surplus $106.5 billion, Fiscal YTD Deficit is $354.6 billion. Treasury PR link.

The PBR1000 April Stock Index is 69,006.43, +0.58% from March, +2.39% YTD.

Investing: Why a merely good portfolio beats the perfect portfolio. MarketWatch PR link.

Tuesday, May 10:

Staples(PBR122) to pay $250 million break up fee to Office Depot(PBR182 $ODP) to terminate $6.3 billion acquisition per FTC action to block the deal. Also cancels $550 million deal with Essendant(PBR458 $ESND). $SPLS PR link.

Allergan(PBR219) authorizes up to $10 billion share repurchase program. $AGN PR link.

Salesforce(PBR453) to use Amazon(PBR29) for new cloud service. MarketWatch PR link.

Pentair(PBR363) hires Karen Keegans as SVP/Chief Human Resources Officer, effective 06/01/16. $PNR PR link.

Restoration Hardware(PBR915) appoints 3 co-presidents: Eri Chaya, Chief Creative/Merchandising Officer, Karen Boone, Chief Financial/Admin Officer, & DeMonty Price, Chief Operating, Service and Values Officer. $RH PR link.

The US Dept of Labor estimates March US Job Hires were 5.292 million, -3.97% from February, +3.54% from March 2015. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates March US Trade Wholesale Sales at $430.7 billion, +0.72% from February, -2.02% from March 2015. USDOC PR link.

CoreLogic estimates March US Housing Payments Serious Delinguency at 1.2 million, -1.7% from February, -19.1% from March 2015. CoreLogic PR link.

Monday, May 9:

Freeport-McMoRan(PBR128) to sell mining interests in TF Holdings to China Molybdenum for $2.65 billion. $FCX PR link.

Southern Co(PBR155) completes $18.75/share, $425 million acquisition of electric utilities technologies provider PowerSecure Intl(NYSE: POWR). $SO PR link.

JCPenney(PBR234) expands major appliances to jcp.com & 500 stores nationwide. $JCP PR link.

Dick’s Sporting Goods(PBR367 $DKS) could get 180 stores out of Sports Authority auction: Canaccord. MarketWatch PR link.

Abercrombie & Fitch(PBR595) to open up retail outlets in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, & Oman through expanded master franchise agreement. $ANF PR link.

First Solar(PBR630) appoints Georges Antoun as Chief Commercial Officer to oversee global project and business development. $FSLR PR link.

HCP(PBR831) to spinoff in 2nd half of 2016 the HCP ManorCare portfolio into separate independent public company. $HCP PR link.

FMC Technologies(PBR334) promotes Doug Pferdehirt as president/CEO, effective 09/01/16, John Gremp keeps chairman role. $FTI PR link.

Jobs: Two more signs U.S. jobs market is slowing. MarketWatch PR link.

Friday, May 6:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,740.63, -0.19% from last week/MTD, +0.31% QTD, +1.81% YTD, -3.12% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,736.16, -0.82% from last week/MTD, -2.75% QTD, -5.42% YTD, -9.25% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,057.14, -0.40% from last week/MTD, -0.13% QTD, +0.65% YTD, -3.46% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Air Products(PBR267) to sell Performance Materials unit to Germany based Evonik for $3.8 billion cash. To spinoff Electronic Materials unit as independent public company called Versum Materials. $APD PR link.

Charter Communications(PBR297) gets FCC approval for $78.7 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable(PBR119 $TWC) & Bright House Networks. $CHTR PR link.

GoPro(PBR1010 $GPRO) bets it all on a holiday miracle. MarketWatch PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says April US Employment Situation was 151.0 million employed, 7.9 million unemployed, 5.0% unemployment rate. USDOL PR link.

The US Federal Reserve estimates April US Total Consumer Credit at $3.592 trillion, +0.83% from March, +1.61% YTD, +6.80% from April 2015. FRB PR link.

Retail Industry: Teen retailers are caught in a ‘perfect bankruptcy storm. MarketWatch PR link.

Thursday, May 5:

FannieMae(PBR17) CEO says it’s not sustainable to operate without capital. $FNMA PR link.

Chesapeake Energy(PBR131) selling 42,000 acres of Oklahoma STACK play for $470 million. $CHK PR link.

Omnicom(PBR192) Health Group unit to acquire BioPharm Communications. $OMC PR link.

Computer Sciences(PBR237) completes $720 million acquisition of UK based commercial insurance industry software developer Xchanging. $CSC PR link.

ITT Corp(PBR735) to form new parent holding company mid 05/16, reorganize its structure. $ITT PR link.

Kellogg(PBR198) CFO Ron Dissinger to retire at the end of 2016. New CFO search starts. $K PR link.

HARMAN Intl(PBR456) hires Henry Tirri as Chief Technology Officer, reports to chairman/president/CEO. $HAR PR link.

Abercrombie & Fitch(PBR595) EVP/COO Jonathan Ramsden leaving after 7 years, effective 06/15/16. $ANF PR link.

Brink’s(PBR613) names George Stoeckert as interim CEO. $BCO PR link.

American Eagle Outfitters(PBR640) hires Peter Horvath as Chief Global Commercial/Administrative Officer. $AEO PR link.

Endo International(PBR700) president, US Branded Pharmaceuticals, Brian Lortie, is stepping down upon appointment of successor. $ENDP PR link.

Teradata(PBR724) elects board director Victor Lund as president/CEO, succeeds Mike Koehler, who has left. $TDC PR link.

Wednesday, May 4:

AT&T(PBR12 $T) dumps Yahoo!(PBR519 $YHOO) after 15-year partnership. MarketWatch PR link.

Danaher(PBR137) to spinoff Fortive Corporation professional instrumentation/industrial technologies unit as separate public company on 07/02/16. $DHR PR link.

CDW(PBR239) adds $750 million to share repurchase program, balance is $891 million. $CDW PR link.

Tribune Publishing sends letter to Gannett(PBR414 $GCI) rejecting $815 million unsolicited acquisition offer as undervalued. $TPUB PR link.

Intercontinental Exchange(PBR556) issues statement saying will not pursue acquisition of London Stock Exchange Group. $ICE PR link.

Elon Musk: ‘High quality’ at Tesla(PBR651 $TSLA) will continue despite executive departure. MarketWatch PR link.

Aeropostale(PBR924) files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to close 113 US stores, all 41 Canada stores, gets $160 million in DIP financing, expects to emerge from bankruptcy within 6 months. $AROP PR link.

Aéropostale(PBR924 $AROP) accuses lender of pushing it into bankruptcy. MarketWatch PR link.

Anthem(PBR38) hires John Gallina as CFO, effective 06/01/16, succeeds leaving Wayne DeVeydt. $ANTM PR link.

Medtronic(PBR133) hires Karen Parkhill as EVP/CFO, effective 06/20/16. $MDT PR link.

ADP(PBR235) says April Nonfarm Private Sector Employment was +156,000 over March. $ADP PR link.

The US Dept of Labor estimates 1Q2016 Nonfarm Labor Productivity Annual Rate was -1.0%, Output +0.4%, Hours Worked +1.5%. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says March US International Trade Exports YTD at $531.1 billion, Imports $664.4 billion, Deficit $133.3 billion. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates March US Manufacturing New Orders were $458.4 billion, +1.13% from February. USDOC PR link.

Markit says April US Composite PMI Output Index at 52.4, up from 51.3 in March. Markit PR link.

The ISM April Non-Manufacturing Report On Business® NMI Index at 55.7%, up from 54.7% in March. ISM PR link.

Housing: The seeds of the next housing crisis have been planted. MarketWatch PR link.

Mortgages: Fannie Mae(PBR17) less likely than Freddie Mac(PBR41) to need Treasury draw, analyst says. MarketWatch PR link.

Tuesday, May 3:

Wal-Mart(PBR1 $WMT)’s massive size may be an obstacle for further growth, analyst says. MarketWatch PR link.

Estee Lauder(PBR255) launches multi-year initiative, Leading Beauty Forward, includes net reduction of 900-1,200 positions globally. $EL PR link.

Biogen(PBR282) to spin off its hemophilia business as an independent public company late 2016/early 2017. $BIIB PR link.

Clorox(PBR442) acquires digestive probiotics developer Renew Life for $290 million cash. $CLX PR link.

Adobe Systems(PBR557) to acquire private content curation/audience engagement company Livefyre, terms not disclosed. $ADBE PR link.

Dynegy(PBR777) to shut down multiple central & southern Illinois coal-fueled units. $DYN PR link.

Arrow Electronics(PBR120) promotes Chris Stansbury to SVP & CFO, succeeds retiring Paul Reilly. $ARW PR link.

Mylan(PBR346) hires Kenneth Parks as CFO, effective 06/06/16. $MYL PR link.

Manitowoc(PBR579) hires David Antoniuk as VP/CFO, effective 05/31/16, succeeds leaving Carl Laurino. $MTW PR link.

CIT Group(PBR608) hires Denise Menelly as EVP, Head of Technology & Operations, effective 06/29/16. $CIT PR link.

Under Armour(PBR668) appoints Kip Fulks interim Chief Merchandising Officer with leaving of Henry Stafford. SVP Michael Lee to assume Chief Digital Officer responsibilities with leaving of Robin Thurston. $UA PR link.

Comerica(PBR740) names David Duprey CFO, effective immediately, succeeds leaving Karen Parkhill. $CMA PR link.

TrueCar estimates Total April US Car Sales at $49.7B, +5.6% from April 2015. TrueCar PR link.

AutoNews says Total April US Car Sales Units at 1,506,431, +3.50% from April 2015. AutoNews PR link.

eCommerce/Retail: Amazon(PBR29) accounted for 60% of U.S. online sales growth in 2015. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Despite bear concerns, odds still favor the bulls. MarketWatch PR link.

Monday, May 2:

Oracle(PBR78) to acquire energy utilities cloud services developer Opower(NYSE: OPWR) for $532 million. $ORCL PR link.

Halliburton(PBR90) $34.6 billion acquisition of Baker Hughes(PBR108 $BHI) terminated due to regulatory issues. $HAL PR link.

Baker Hughes(PBR108) to do $1.5 billion shares buyback program, $1 billion to reduce debt, from $3.5 billion received from Halliburton(PBR90 $HAL) as merger breakup fee. $BHI PR link.

International Paper(PBR117) to acquire Weyerhauser(PBR355 $WY)’s pulp business for $2.2 billion. $IP PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR184) Adonia passenger ship arrives in Havana, first US to Cuba cruise in over 50 years. $CCL PR link.

Grain traders rejecting new soybeans from Monsanto(PBR187). MarketWatch PR link.

Gannett(PBR414) solicits “withhold” votes related to board elections for Tribune Publishing(NYSE: TPUB), which is being acquired for $815 million. $GCI PR link.

The Andersons(PBR525) completes sale of 8 grain & plant nutrients facilities in Iowa to MaxYield Cooperative. $ANDE PR link.

NASDAQ(PBR618) completes $200 million acquisition of 10,000 clients board portal solution Boardvantage. $NDAQ PR link.

Iron Mountain(PBR663) completes $2 billion acquisition of Australian based digital/physical document information management firm Recall Holdings. $IRM PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Little Rock, AR, based southern/central states retail insurance broker Hagan Newkirk Financial Services. $AJG PR link.

GNC(PBR743) starts strategic/financial review to increase shareholder value, including potential sale of company. $GNC PR link.

Beacon Roofing(PBR818) buys Lansing, MI, based 4 locations, roofing, siding, windows, & doors distributor Fox Brothers Co. $BECN PR link.

Apollo Global Mgmt(PBR906 $APO) Protection 1 affiliate completes $42/share cash acquisition of ADT(PBR627). $ADT PR link.

SunEdison(PBR782) hires John Dubel as Chief Restructuring Officer. $SUNEQ PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates March Construction Spending Annual Rate at $1.138 trillion, +0.3% from February, +8.0% from March 2015. USDOC PR link.

ISM Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® says April PMI at 50.8%, March PMI was 51.8%. ISM PR link.

Markit April US Manufacturing PMI at 50.8, down from 51.5 in March, output close to stagnation. Markit PR link.

Stock Market: Lousy stock sentiment suggests there’s more wall for worry to climb. MarketWatch PR link.

Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico misses payment as debt crisis escalates. MarketWatch PR link.

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(The PBR1000 is the premiere business intelligence service covering over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administration headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $13 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to The PBR1000 subscribers. Users include C-level executives, entrepreneurs,  sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisors, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just go to the PBRMarketTools.com Subscribe page.)

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Filed Under: Recaps Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The PBR1000 April 2016 Stocks/Commodities Snapshots

May 30, 2016 by

April 2016: Commodities Lead the Way

Petrochemical Plant-sudakitmod ID-100211349

Oil Over $100/barrel, Then Under $30/barrel, Now on the Rise, What is the Real Value of Oil?

By Larry C. Paxton

As Table 5 below demonstrates, stock exchanges in April were mixed with the DJIA and S&P 500 having modest gains. On the other hand, NASDAQ experienced a significant downward trend. Out of 21 trading days 7 were up, 14 were down, including the last 7 days. It is hard to accurately evaluate what this means, upcoming months will help us as we look back.

Table 5 also shows that commodities, especially oil, realized significant gains over the month. When will these prices start flattening out?

It is interesting the effect oil had on stock prices. As shown in Table 1, all 5 of the monthly stock leaders of The PBR1000 were related to the energy sector.

US and global economies continue to send mixed signals, but the US economy, even with modest/moderate growth, is the most robust and shows the most hope.

If you are not a current Subscriber to highly acclaimed The PBR1000 Snapshots  just click here to get your 13 month subscription and automatically download the March 2016 edition.

The following partial tables are excerpts from The PBR1000 April Snapshots. The stock price is for the close of trading on April 29th, Month % Chg is compared to March 31st, YTD % Chg is compared to December 31, 2015, and the 16 Months % Chg is compared to December 31, 2014.

Table 1(S11): The PBR1000 Top 5 Month Stock Price % Gainers

Table 1 Summary: The range was +75.67% to -68.55%. 557 out of 1,007 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 55.31% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 0.77%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
04/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 16 Mos
% Chg
Cliffs Natural Resources
 842 CLF 5.27 +75.67 +233.54 -26.19
Energy Transfer Equity
 64 ETE 12.43 +74.33 -9.53 -56.67
Denbury Resources
 977 DNR 3.86 +73.87 +91.09 -52.52
Chesapeake Energy 212 CHK 6.87 +66.75 +52.67 -64.90
Southwestern Energy
 631 SWN 13.43 +66.42 +88.89 -50.79

 

Table 2(S12): The PBR1000 Top 5 Year-To-Date Stock Price % Gainers

Table 2 Summary: The range was +233.54% to -93.32%. 644 out of 1,007 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 63.95% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 4.61%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
04/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 16 Mos
% Chg
Cliffs Natural Resources
 842 CLF 5.27 +75.67 +233.54 -26.19
US Steel
 229 X 19.11 +19.07 +139.47 -28.53
Alliance One
 827 AOI 25.51 +45.27 +122.41 +61.46
SunCoke Energy
 964 SXC 7.43 +14.31 +114.12 -61.58
AK Steel
 351 AKS 4.68 +13.32 +108.93 -21.21

 

Table 3(S13): The PBR1000 Top 5 16 Months Stock Price % Gainers

Table 3 Summary: Range was +112.53% to -98.92%. 432 out of 1,004 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 43.03% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of -4.81%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
04/29/15		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 16 Mos
% Chg
Amazon.com
 18 AMZN 659.59 +11.11 -2.41 +112.53
A-Mark Precious Metals
 391 AMRK 20.48 +2.91 +8.65 +105.42
Newmont Mining
 321 NEM 34.97 +31.57 +94.39 +85.03
Netflix
 347 NFLX 90.03 -11.93 -21.29 +84.49
Skechers USA
 628 SKX 33.05 +8.54 +9.40 +79.42

 

Table 4(S15): The PBR1000 Top 5 Market Capitalization

Table 4 Summary: Range was $519.75 billion to $0.00 billion. The average is $20.14 billion, median is $6.23 billion, out of 1,006 companies tracked.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Market Cap($B)
04/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 16 Mos
% Chg
Apple
 3 AAPL 519.75 -13.99 -11.44 -19.72
Alphabet
 44 GOOG 477.01 -6.97 -8.60 +33.58
Microsoft
 27 MSFT 394.44 -9.70 -11.00 +3.01
ExxonMobil
 5 XOM 367.10 +5.75 +13.13 -6.23
Berkshire Hathaway
 2 BRK.B 360.06 +2.46 +10.62 -0.43
The PBR1000
   20,261.58 +0.33 +0.59 -1.56

 

Table 5: The PBR1000 Index & Selected Stock Exchanges/Commodities

Company Price
04/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 16 Mos
% Chg
The PBR1000 68,565.33 +0.63 +2.41 -2.91
DJIA 17,773.64 +0.50 +2.00 -0.28%
NASDAQ 4,775.36 -1.94 -4.63 +.83
S&P500 2,065.30 +0.27 +1.05 +0.31
Gold 1,294.90 +4.80 +22.14 +9.28
Silver 17.89 +15.72 +29.64 +14.68
Oil 45.99 +19.95 +24.16 -13.67

Have questions on The PBR1000 or The PBR US Indices Monthly Snapshot? Please contact us at Sales@PBRMarketTools.com or call us at 520-282-4100.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @ThePBR1000.

(The PBR1000 provides astute investors and business professionals with the data, news, and analysis for taking higher probability of success actions. The PBR1000 covers over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administrative headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $13 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to Subscribers of The PBR1000. Subscribers include C-level executives, entrepreneurs, sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisers, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just click here to go to the PBRMarketTools.com Order page.)

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Filed Under: Snapshots Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The PBR1000 April 2016 Breaking News Recap

May 2, 2016 by

April 2016: 2nd Quarter Starts A New Direction?

hand working business

Is the Business Compass Functioning Properly?

 

By Larry C. Paxton

Oil prices rose, the meeting in Doha resulted in no change in global oil production policy, oil companies continue to adjust by selling off assets, the world economy indicates weak growth, The US GDP disappointed, the Federal Reserve made no change in the funds rate, annual and quarterly corporate earnings were mixed, with the tech sector getting hit hard by Apple and IBM results, but Amazon finally had an amazing report. There were some major mergers and acquisitions announced and the US presidential race continues to provide some scary entertainment value.

And so the second quarter of 2016 has started, with a fragile slow growth direction, with some volatility mixed in, and the bulls and bears still making their less than convincing cases for short and long term outlooks.

We at PBRMarketTools.com continue to not reveal our predictions  so that we can say we told you so later on.

Following are The PBR1000 and economic related breaking news items of note for April 2016, starting with the last active day.

Friday, April 29:

The PBR1000 End of April US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,773.64, -1.28% from last week, +0.50% MTD/QTD, +2.00% YTD, -2.94% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,775.36, -2.67% from last week, -1.94% MTD/QTD, -4.63% YTD, -8.50% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,065.30, -1.26% from last week, +0.27% MTD/QTD, +1.05% YTD, -3.07% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Amazon(PBR29 $AMZN) wows Wall Street analysts; $900-a-share here we come. MarketWatch PR link.

Community Health System(PBR125) completes spin-off of public Quorum Health Corp(NYSE: $QHC) with 38 hospitals in 16 states. $CYH PR link.

Occidental Petroleum(PBR123) president/COO Vicki Hollub now president/CEO, succeeds Steve Chazen who remains on the board. $OXY PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says 1Q16 Employee Cost Index(2005=100) was 126.0, +0.6 from 4Q15, +1.9 from 1Q15. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates March Personal Income Annual Rate at $15.734 trillion, +0.4% from February, +4.2% from March 2015. USDOC PR link.

The U of Michigan says April Consumer Sentiment at 89.0, -2.2% from March, -7.2% from April 2015. UMich PR link.

MNI/ISM says the April Chicago PMI at 50.4, -3.2 from March, new orders fell, sharp drop in orders backlogs MNI/ISM PR link.

Global Economy: The global economy’s wild ride is being fueled by too much debt. MarketWatch PR link.

Thursday, April 28:

Comcast(PBR42) NBC Universal unit to acquire DreamWorks Animation(NASDAQ: $DWA) for $41/share, $3.8 billion cash. $CMCSA PR link.

Oracle(PBR78) to acquire construction contracts/payment management cloud services provider Textura(NYSE: TXTR) for $26.00/share, $663 million cash. $ORCL PR link.

Abbott Labs(PBR134) to acquire cardiovascular medical devices developer St Jude Medical(PBR440 $STJ) for $85/share, $25 billion cash/stock. $ABT PR link.

AbbVie(PBR136) to expand oncology presence with acquisition of Stemcentrx for $5.8 billion cash/stock. $ABBV PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR184) takes delivery of its largest ship, 133,500 ton 3,954 passenger Carnival Vista. $CCL PR link.

Level 3 Communications(PBR375) issues statement on FCC action to unlock $45 billion business data services market. $LVLT PR link.

Graphic Packaging(PBR553) completes acquisition of Australian based 3 locations folding carton manufacturer Colorpak(ASX: CKL). $GPK PR link.

Priceline(PBR319) CEO Darren Huston resigns after internal investigation, chairman Jeffrey Boyd now also interim CEO, Gillian Tans promoted to CEO of booking.com. $PCLN PR link.

Groupon(PBR652) hires Mike Randolfi as CFO. $GRPN PR link.

Symantec(PBR384) president/CEO Mike Brown to step down after successor found, company to focus on cybersecurity. $SYMC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce in 1st Quarter Advance Estimate says Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growing at a 0.5% annual rate, $18.2 trillion. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says Unemployment Initial Claims 4 Week Average at 256,000, lowest since 12/08/1973. USDOL PR link.

FreddieMac(PBR41) says Average 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rate at 3.66%, -0.05% from mo ago, -0.02% from yr ago. $FMCC PR link.

Housing: Homeownership rate falls to third lowest on record. MarketWatch PR link.

Economy: What’s concerning about the GDP numbers — economist reactions. MarketWatch PR link.

Stocks Investing: Finra issues report cards on superfast traders in effort to stop manipulation. MarketWatch PR link.

Investment Fees: A catastrophe looms over high-fee mutual funds and investment advisers. MarketWatch PR link.

Retirement: The typical American couple has only $5,000 saved for retirement. MarketWatch PR link.

Retail: This is how the retail industry is dying. MarketWatch PR link.

Eurozone: Pro-Brexit economists make case for U.K. departure. MarketWatch PR link.

Wednesday, April 27:

Here’s what Apple(PBR5 $AAPL)’s horrible quarter means for the company in the long term. MarketWatch PR link.

Comcast(PBR42) Q1 video customers increase by 53,000, best Q1 in 9 years, high-speed internet customers increase 438,000, best Q1 in 4 years. $CMCSA PR link.

Backlash leads Comcast(PBR42 $CMCSA) to boost broadband data limits to 1 terabyte. MarketWatch PR link.

United Technologies(PBR45) to do $3 billion in share repurchases beyond $6 billion accelerated share repurchases, sets aside $1-2 billion for acquisitions. $UTX PR link.

Facebook(PBR228) founder Mark Zuckerberg announces proposal for new class of stock. $FB PR link.

Avery Dennison(PBR396) to acquire $170 million/year pressure sensitive labels manufacturer Mactac Europe for $226 million. $AVY PR link.

Murphy Oil(PBR448) to sell its 5% interest in Syncrude Canada to Suncor Energy for $750 million. $MUR PR link.

HanesBrands(PBR459) authorizes 40 million shares repurchase program, $1 billion. $HBI PR link.

HanesBrands(PBR459) to acquire Australia based underwear/intimate apparel company Pacific Brands for $800 million. $HBI PR link.

McGraw Hill(PBR477) changing its name to S&P Global, symbol NYSE: $SPGI. $SPGI PR link.

Yahoo!(PBR519) announces board changes and agreement with Starboard. $YHOO PR link.

Chipotle(PBR561 $CMG) just hit a ‘fundamental bottom’ after rocky quarter. MarketWatch PR link.

Brown-Forman(PBR563) to acquire for $400 million the BenRiach Distillery Co with GlenDronach, BenRiach, & Glenglassaugh single malt Scotch whisky brands. $BF PR link.

YUM!(PBR217) promotes David Gibbs to president/CFO, effective 05/02/16. $YUM PR link.

Biogen(PBR282) hires Michael Ehlers, PhD, as EVP-Research/Development, effective late 05/16. $BIIB PR link.

Barnes & Noble(PBR408) founder/chairman Leonard Riggio to retire in 09/16, to remain on board, Paul Guenther to become non-executive chairman. $BKS PR link.

First Solar(PBR630) CFO Mark Widmar to become CEO on 07/01/16, succeeds Jim Hughes who remains on board. $FSLR PR link.

Pinnacle Foods(PBR751) hires Mark Clouse as CEO, effective 05/23/16. $PF PR link.

Federal Open Market Committee 04/26-27/16 Meeting Statement: Labor market improves, economic growth slows, no funds rate change. FRB PR link.

Compensation: Right out of college, women already earn $9,000 a year less than men. MarketWatch PR link.

Housing: Here’s what’s behind America’s renewed mania for home renovation. MarketWatch PR link.

The American Dream: We’re going broke chasing the American Dream. MarketWatch PR link.

Global Economy: The world’s debt problem is really an investment problem. MarketWatch PR link.

US/China Trade: Apple(PBR5) is failing in China, while many others are starting to succeed. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Five steps to beating the market. MarketWatch PR link.

Tuesday, April 26:

Regulators block Walt Disney(PBR57 $DIS) from entering China online video market. MarketWatch PR link.

Laclede Group(PBR967) to acquire equity in EnergySouth, parent company of Mobile Gas and Willmut Gas, for $344 million. $LG PR link.

Markit April Flash US Composite PMI Output Index at 51.7, up from 51.3 in March, increase from services. Markit PR link.

ConferenceBoard says April Consumer Confidence Index at 94.2, down from March’s 96.1. CB PR link.

S&P/Case-Shiller February US Home Price Index at 175.61, continued slow growth from Jan 175.26. S&P/C-S PR link.

Economy: Cars no longer providing spark to economy. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Chart watchers say the stock market is stalling and exhausted, others are bullish. MarketWatch PR link.

Oil: World Bank lifts oil-price forecast, sees supply glut subsiding. MarketWatch PR link.

Corporate Ratings: Exxon Mobil(PBR2)’s downgrade leaves just two AAA-rated companies in the US. MarketWatch PR link.

Monday, April 25:

Honeywell(PBR74) announces $5 billion share repurchase program. $HON PR link.

Allergan(PBR219) breaks ground on $200 million Waco facility expansion, to add 100 fulltime jobs. $AGN PR link.

US Justice Department Allows Charter Communications(PBR297)’s Acquisition of Time Warner CablePBR119) and Bright House Networks to Proceed with Conditions. $HON PR link.

Ball Corp(PBR312) to sell select metal beverage can assets for $3.42 billion to meet regulatory requirements for purchase of Rexam plc. $BLL PR link.

Gannett(PBR414) proposes to acquire Tribune Publishing Company(NYSE: TPUB) for $12.25/share in cash, $815 million. $GCI PR link.

Boyd Gaming(PBR727) to acquire Las Vegas assets of Cannery Casino Resorts for $230 million cash. $BYD PR link.

Global Payments(PBR762) completes $4.3 billion acquisition of Heartland Payment Systems(PBR821 $HPY). $GPN PR link.

Bob Evans(PBR1020) to close 27 restaurants. $BOBE PR link.

Community Health System(PBR125) promotes Tim Hingtgen EVP-Operations, & John McClellan president, Division IV Operations. $CYH PR link.

Perrigo(PBR565) Chairman/CEO Joseph Papa resigns, president John Hendrickson adds CEO title, effective immediately. $PRGO PR link.

CIT Group(PBR608) hires John C Erickson as president of Consumer Banking, & president, California, reports to CEO. $CIT PR link.

The US Dept of HUD says March New Single-Family Houses Sold at a 511,000 annual rate, -1.5% from February, +5.4% from March 2015. HUD PR link.

Retail: Retail layoffs in 2016 could be highest since 2010. MarketWatch PR link.

Retail: More department stores should close, study says. MarketWatch PR link.

Trade Deficit: America’s trade deficit begins at home. MarketWatch PR link.

Share buybacks delivering more bang for the buck. MarketWatch PR link.

Friday, April 22:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 18,003.75, +0.59% from last week, +1.80% MTD/QTD, +3.32% YTD, -1.69% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,906.23, -0.65% from last week, +0.75% MTD/QTD, -2.02% YTD, -5.99% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,091.58, +0.52% from last week, +1.55% MTD/QTD, +2.33% YTD, -1.84% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

China suspends Apple(PBR5 $AAPL)‘s online book, movie services. MarketWatch PR link.

For McDonald’s(PBR101 $MCD), breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. MarketWatch PR link.

ADT(PBR627) stockholders approve $42.00/share cash acquisition by Apollo Global Mgmt(PBR906 $APO), to close 05/02/16. $ADT PR link.

Under Armour(PBR668) to be exclusive performance footwear & apparel supplier for UC Berkeley Golden Bear athletic teams through 2027. $UA PR link.

AmerisourceBergen(PBR16) EVP Retail Strategy & president, Good Neighbor Pharmacy David Neu to retire in summer 2016. $ABC PR link.

Economy: FreddieMac(PBR41) April Outlook: Economic outlook darkens, but housing remains bright spot $FMCC PR link.

Economy: On the U.S. economy, is the glass half full, or half empty? MarketWatch PR link.

Mortgage delinquencies fall to lowest in at least 16 years. MarketWatch PR link.

Markit Flash US Manufacturing PMI drops to 50.8 in April, lowest level in over 6.5 years Markit PR link.

Executive Compensation: Tesla(PBR651)’s Elon Musk is doing for executive compensation what he did for electric #cars. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Investors are ‘really overpaying’ for stocks, by this measure. MarketWatch PR link.

The Eurozone economy mired in low growth, no inflation. MarketWatch PR link.

Thursday, April 21:

Johnson Controls(PBR68) expects merger with Tyco plc(NYSE $TYC) to be completed on 10/01/16 with global headquarters in Cork, Ireland. $JCI PR link.

Sears Holding(PBR93) to close 68 KMarts & 10 Sears stores this summer to accelerate profitability effort. $SHLD PR link.

Starbucks(PBR178) adds 900,000 Rewards Loyalty Members in US in Q2, adds 100 million shares to repurchase authorization. $SBUX PR link.

DISH Network(PBR196) & Viacom(PBR212 $VIA) issue joint statement confirming multi-year contract agreed to. $DISH PR link.

AMD(PBR446) gets $293 million plus royalties in IP high performance processor/SoC licensing agreement in Chinese joint venture. $AMD PR link.

Tesla(PBR651 $TSLA)’s Musk says has almost 400,000 orders for Model 3. MarketWatch PR link.

Boyd Gaming(PBR727) to acquire Aliante Casino Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas for $380 million cash. $BYD PR link.

SunEdison(PBR782) undertakes Chapter 11 Reorganization, secures $300 million in new DIP financing. $SUNE PR link.

Heartland Payment Systems(PBR821 $HPY) stockholders approve $4.3 billion acquisition by Global Payments(PBR762), to close within 3 business days. $GPN PR link.

Tenet Healthcare(PBR161) hires Robert Webb as Chief Human Resources Officer, effective 05/16/16. $THC PR link.

The Philadelphia Fed says April General Activity Indicator at -1.6, was +12.4 in March, cites employment weakness. PhillyFed PR link.

The Conference Board says the March US Leading Economic Index at 123.4, +0.2% from February, 2010=100. CB PR link.

Jobs: Robots at work will mean higher pay and more skills for you. MarketWatch PR link.

Wednesday, April 20:

Amazon(PBR29) to open 6th fulfillment center in Texas, creates 1,000 new fulltime jobs, in Haslet near Dallas/Ft Worth. $AMZN PR link.

Comcast(PBR42) launches Xfinity TV Partner Program for apps independent of set-top boxes, Samsung is first partner. $CMCSA PR link.

McDonald’s(PBR101 $MCD) is testing new Big Macs and analysts want fries with that. MarketWatch PR link.

Devon Energy(PBR143) to sell non-core Mississippian assets for $200 million to White Star Petroleum, part of 2016 plan to sell $2-3 billion in assets. $DVN PR link.

Assurant(PBR268) hires Ajay Waghray as Chief Technology Officer, reports to president/CEO. $AIZ PR link.

Alliant Energy(PBR634) to do 2:1 stock split after close of business on 05/04/16. $LNT PR link.

Lincoln Electric(PBR710) adds 10 million shares to 2.8 million available for repurchase program. $LECO PR link.

Plexus(PBR807) EVP/COO Todd Kelsey to become president/CEO on 10/02/16, succeeds retiring Dean Foate. $PLXS PR link.

Rowan Cos(PBR925) appoints executives in finance, marketing, & investor relations in reorganization. $RDC PR link.

Natl Assn Realtors says March Existing Home Sales Annual Rate at 5.33 million, Median price $222,700 NAR PR link.

Jobs: Most new obs in U.S. are not crummy. MarketWatch PR link.

Compensation: These are the highest paying companies in the U.S. MarketWatch PR link.

Healthcare: Here’s how UnitedHealth(PBR14 $UNH)’s Obamacare retreat does — or doesn’t — affect you. MarketWatch PR link.

Infrastructure-Water: America’s water crisis is way bigger than Flint. MarketWatch PR link.

Investing: Hedge funds suffer biggest outflows since the Great Recession. MarketWatch PR link.

Tuesday, April 19:

CVS Health(PBR11) partners & invests in Curbside mobile app for customer orders pickup in an hour. $CVS PR link.

United Health(PBR14 $UNH) will exit most Obamacare state exchanges in 2017. MarketWatch PR link.

Intel(PBR51) to reduce global workforce by up to 12,000, 11%, through mid 2017. $INTC PR link.

Harley-Davidson(PBR400) in Q1 report says it expects to ship 269,000-274,000 motorcycles in 2016. $HOG PR link.

Netflix(PBR447 $NFLX) expects subscriber growth to slow as price, competition increases. MarketWatch PR link.

McCormick(PBR552) buys Australia based private global chilled packaged herbs Gourmet Garden brand provider Botanical Food Co for $114 million cash. $MKC PR link.

AmTrust Financial(PBR564) to acquire ANV Holdings from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for $218.7 million cash. $AFSI PR link.

Allscripts Healthcare(PBR1014) completes joint venture deal to acquire private Netsmart Technologies to combine with Homecare unit to create largest technology company exclusively dedicated to human services and post acute care. $MDRX PR link.

SuperValu(PBR164) hires James Weidenheimer to new position of EVP, Corporate Development & Chief Innovation Director. $SVU PR link.

Rockwell Automation(PBR380) to promote Blake Moret to president/CEO, effective 07/01/16, Keith Nosbusch to remain chairman. $ROK PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates March New Residential Building Permits annual rate at 1,086,000, -7.7% from February, +4.6% from March 2015. USDOC PR link.

Economy: There’s no secret U.S.-China pact, economists say after IMF meeting. MarketWatch PR link.

Monday, April 18:

Whirlpool(PBR138) announces $1 billion share repurchase program. $WHR PR link.

Nordstrom(PBR214) changing operating model, to phase out up to 400 jobs in corporate/regional support teams. $JWN PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Las Vegas, NV, based managing general insurance agent KDC Associates, terms not disclosed. $AJG PR link.

Colfax(PBR517) hires Shyam Kambeyanda as SVP & President, ESAB, effective 05/16/16, reports to president/CEO. $CFX PR link.

AmTrust Financial(PBR564) completes purchase of Texas based property/casualty insurance provider Republic Cos for $233 million. $AFSI PR link.

Nortek(PBR763) hires Bruno Biasiotta as COO, Air Management, reports to Nortek president/CEO. $NTK PR link.

Bristow Group(PBR919) promotes Chet Akiri to acting SVP operations & Chief Commercial Officer, 3 executive positions eliminated in restructuring. $BRS PR link.

Housing: Natl Assn of Home Builders says April Homebuilder Confidence remains at 58 for 3rd consecutive month, indicates slow but steady growth. NAHB PR link.

Tax Day-Opinion: Here’s how to fix the IRS and end America’s Tax Day mess. MarketWatch PR link.

Taxes: Compared to most countries, we’re undertaxed. MarketWatch PR link.

Friday, April 15:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,897.46, +1.82% from last week, +1.20% MTD/QTD, +2.71% YTD, -2.27% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,938.22, +1.80% from last week, +1.40% MTD/QTD, -1.38% YTD, -5.38% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,080.73, +1.62% from last week, +1.02% MTD/QTD, +1.80% YTD, -2.35% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

MGM Resorts(PBR273) & partner Infinity World complete $1.1 billion sale of Las Vegas CityCenter The Shops at Crystals Mall to Invesco & Simon Property(PBR494 $SPG). $MGM PR link.

EMCOR(PBR392) completes $205 million cash acquisition of electrical/instrumentation services providers Ardent Services and Rabalais Constructors. $EME PR link.

Newell Rubbermaid(PBR434) completes $60/share cash/stock acquisition of Jarden(PBR324 $JAH), now called Newell Brands, to be a $16 billion/year consumer products company. $NWL PR link.

McGraw Hill(PBR477) to Sell J.D. Power for $1.1 billion to investments firm XIO Group. $MHFI PR link.

Liberty Media(PBR534) completes recapitalization into three tracking stocks. $LMCA PR link.

ON Semiconductor(PBR656) extends $20.00/share, $2.4 billion cash tender offer for Fairchild Semiconductor(PBR1000) to 04/28/16. $ON PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says March Industrial Production Total Index at 103.4, -0.6 from February, -2.0 from March 2015. FRB PR link.

The U of Michigan says Preliminary March Consumer Sentiment Index at 89.7, -1.4% from February, -6.5% from March 2015. UMich PR link.

Thursday, April 14:

Berkshire Hathaway(PBR4) owned utility plans $3.5 billion for additional 2,000 megawatts Iowa wind farm. MarketWatch article link.

Microsoft(PBR31 $MSFT) sues US government over secret customer data searches. MarketWatch article link.

McDonald’s(PBR101 $MCD) pulls wraps from most menus. MarketWatch article link.

Gannett(PBR414), Tribune, McClatchy, & Hearst newspaper chains form advertising network. MarketWatch article link.

Chipotle(PBR561 $CMG) illness outbreaks cost it three years of earnings, but there is hope. MarketWatch article link.

EnerSys(PBR776) acquires advanced industrial applications lithium battery developer Enser, terms not disclosed. $ENS article link.

SunEdison(PBR782 $SUNE) internal investigation finds accounting issues but no fraud. MarketWatch article link.

Verisk Analytics(PBR943) acquires insurance automation provider Risk Intelligence Ireland, terms not disclosed. $VRSK article link.

Estee Lauder(PBR255) makes global leadership changes for EMEA, promotes Nancy Mahon to SVP/Global Corporate Citizenship/Sustainability & Maria Cristina Gonzalez Noguera to SVP/Global Public Affairs. $EL article link.

Southwest Gas(PBR867) hires Paul Daily as CEO of subsidiary Centuri Construction Group. $SWX article link.

The US Dept of Labor says March Current Average Earnings/Hour at $25.43, +0.28% from February, +2.3% from March 2015. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says March Consumer Price Index was +0.1% over Feb, +0.9% over past 12 mos. USDOL PR link.

The PBR1000 Fun Fact: The PBR1000 March Market Capitalization was at $20.312 trillion, +6.40% from February, +0.29% YTD, -1.80% from December 2014.

Housing: Foreclosures fall to pre-crisis lows, RealtyTrac says. MarketWatch article link.

Housing/Pay: Americans are spending almost all of their pay raises on rent. MarketWatch article link.

Food: Americans are paying less for groceries amid global glut of crops. MarketWatch article link.

Personal Finance: Why Americans are some of the world’s worst savers. MarketWatch article link.

Retirement Planning: Don’t rely on the 4% rule for your retirement. MarketWatch article link.

International Economy: China’s giant bonfire of #debt needs one spark to become an inferno. MarketWatch article link.

Wednesday, April 13:

Nearly 40,000 Verizon(PBR15 $VZ) workers go on strike. MarketWatch article link.

Amazon(PBR29) introduces Kindle Oasis, thinner/lighter than previous versions, priced at $289.99. $AMZN article link.

PVH(PBR328) completes acquisition of balance of Tommy Hilfiger China joint venture, will add $100 million in revenues. $PVH article link.

Peabody Energy(PBR372) files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, coal industry related, will continue to operate as usual during reorganization. $BTU article link.

McCormick(PBR552) announces that it does not intend to make an offer for Premier Foods plc. $MKC article link.

Legg Mason(PBR709) completes $585 million acquisition of 82% majority interest in real estate investment & $40 billion portfolio management firm Clarion Partners. $LM article link.

Gap Inc(PBR179) promotes Sonia Syngal to global president, Old Navy unit, reports to Gap CEO. $GPS article link.

Level 3 Communications(PBR375) CEO Jeff Storey returns after temporary medical leave from heart surgery. $LVLT article link.

GoPro(PBR1010) hires Danny Coster as VP of Design, reports to CEO. $GPRO article link.

The US Dept of Labor says March Final Demand Producer Price Index was -0.1%. Final demand index was -0.1% for 12 months. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says February Total Trade Sales/Manufacturers’ Shipments are estimated at $1,284.4 billion, -0.4% from January, -1.4% from February 2015. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates March Total US Retail/Food Services Sales at $446.9 billion, -0.3% from February, +1.7% from March 2015. USDOC PR link.

The US Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book, says economy growing at modest/moderate rate, expects trend to continue. USDOC document link.

Investing: These 12 U.S. companies have increased sales for at least 60 straight quarters. MarketWatch article link.

Taxes: Americans pay more in taxes than for housing, food, clothes combined. MarketWatch article link.

Banking: Regulators reject ‘living wills’ of five huge U.S. banks. MarketWatch article link.

Infrastructure: Our crumbling infrastructure is hurting U.S. competitiveness. MarketWatch article link.

Housing: The mortgage interest tax deduction may fuel inequality, researchers suggest. MarketWatch article link.

Healthcare: Yes, you are paying more for your health insurance. MarketWatch article link.

Student Loans: Why Obama is forgiving the student loans of nearly 400,000 people. MarketWatch article link.

Gas Prices: Drivers rev up for the cheapest summer gasoline prices in 12 years. MarketWatch article link.

Entertainment: The movie theater business is in panic mode over this. MarketWatch article link.

Tuesday, April 12:

Penske Automotive(PBR170) acquires Ontario, Canada, based Harper Truck Centres, to add $130 million revenues/year. $PAG PR link.

Facebook(PBR228) provides update on popular Messenger Platform at F8 Conference. $FB PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires S Barrington, IL, based national retail insurance broker Insurance Plans Agency. $AJG PR link.

Activision Blizzard(PBR540) sets new CS:GO major esports records with 45 million hours watched, 1.6 million concurrent viewers 03/31-04/03/16. $ATVI PR link.

Triumph Group(PBR578) to reorganize from 6 to 4 business units, announces executive leadership changes. $TGI PR link.

Scotts Miracle-Gro(PBR705) to eliminate neonicotinoid-based pesticides from all its outdoor products. $SMG PR link.

Macy’s(PBR97) Chief Marketing Officer Martine Reardon leaving 05/13/16 after 32 years of service. $M PR link.

Abercrombie & Fitch(PBR595) hires Ashley Sargent Price as SVP & Creative Director of Marketing, reports to Chief Merchandising Officer. $ANF PR link.

Cracker Barrel(PBR729) hires Jill Golder as its next CFO. $CBRL PR link.

Revlon(PBR900) hires Juan Figuereo as EVP/CFO. $REV PR link.

The US Dept of Treasury says US March Receipts were $227.8 billion, Outlays $335.9 billion, Deficit -$108.0 billion, Fiscal YTD Deficit $461.0 billion. Treasury PR link.

Housing: CoreLogic says February Houses in Serious Delinquency at 1.252 million, -19.9% from February 2015. CoreLogic document link.

The US Dept of Labor says March US Import Prices were +0.2% compared to -0.4% in February, Exports were 0.0% after -0.5% in February. USDOL PR link.

Investing-Stocks: Why some analysts are nearly throwing in the towel on the S&P 500 this year. MarketWatch article link.

Wages: IWPR says gender wage gap widened in 2015. IWPR article link.

Monday, April 11:

Lockheed Martin(PBR64) delivers 150,000th Enhanced Laser Guided Training Round. $LMT PR link.

Goldman Sachs(PBR76 $GS) completes $5 billion deal to settle mortgage securities claims. MarketWatch PR link.

Chesapeake Energy(PBR131) has amended its $4.0 billion secured revolving credit facility agreement. $CHK PR link.

Marathon Oil(PBR250) to divest $950 million of non-core assets. $MRO PR link.

PulteGroup(PBR428) founder makes another plea for immediate removal of CEO. MarketWatch article link.

PulteGroup(PBR428) responds to latest letter from founder Bill Pulte. $PHM article link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) buys Minnesota based Midwest retail insurance broker Charles Allen Agency. $AJM PR link.

England’s Daily Mail confirms it’s exploring bid for Yahoo!(PBR519 $YHOO). MarketWatch article link.

Liberty Media(PBR534 $LMCA) Sirius XM($SIRI) unit adds 465,000 new subscribers in the first quarter. MarketWatch article link.

CNO Financial(PBR559) hires Gary Bhojwani as President, promotes Erik Helding to EVP/CFO. $CNO PR link.

Cabot Corp(PBR607) promotes Hobart Kalkstein to SVP & president, Reinforcement Materials & Jay Doubman to SVP-corporate strategy/development. $CBT PR link.

The PBR1000 FYI: March Stock Index was 68,902.18, +6.60% from February, +1.74% YTD, -3.48% from 12/31/14.

Company defaults headed for largest cyclical rise since recession. MarketWatch article link.

Investing: Forget flipping houses-these retail investors flip mortgages. MarketWatch article link.

Pharmaceuticals: Walgreens(PBR36 $WBA), CVS(PBR11 $CVS) are taking this big step to fight the opioids epidemic. MarketWatch article link.

Computer Industry: IDC says PC shipment decline continued in 1st quarter with hopes for improvement. IDC article link.

Economy-Inflation: Consumer inflation expectations retreat, even as gasoline climbs, survey finds. MarketWatch article link.

China: China’s grand strategy: Use the world as one large supply chain. MarketWatch article link.

Oil: 5 reasons #oil is trading above $40 a barrel again. MarketWatch article link.

OECD sees weaker global growth; China will steady. MarketWatch article link.

Friday, April 8:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,576.96, -1.21% from last week, -0.61% MTD/QTD, +0.87% YTD, -4.02% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,850.69, -1.30% from last week, -0.39% MTD/QTD, -3.13% YTD, -7.05% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,047.60, -1.21% from last week, -0.59% MTD/QTD, +0.18% YTD, -3.91% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Marriott Intl(PBR211 $MAR) $77.94/share, $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels(PBR417) gets okay at both shareholder meetings, to close mid 2016. $HOT article link.

Gannett(PBR414) completes $12/share, $280 million acquisition of Journal Media Group(NYSE: JMG). $GCI article link.

Crown Castle(PBR603) has acquired 336 towers in US & Puerto Rico Tower Development Corp for $461 million cash. $CCI article link.

HB Fuller(PBR870) hires John Corkrean as EVP/CFO, effective 05/17/16, succeeds Jim Giertz who is now EVP-Strategy. $FUL article link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates February US Wholesale Trade Sales at $427.6 billion, -0.19% from January, -3.10% from February 2015. USDOC article link.

Economy: Why poor first-quarter GDP is nothing to worry about. MarketWatch article link.

Jobs: Millennials are in the driver’s seat as companies ramp up hiring. MarketWatch article link.

Housing: Is there a place for micro apartments & micro hotels in a country notorious for macro tastes? MarketWatch article link.

Auto Industry: Americans have fallen out of love with small cars. MarketWatch article link.

Taxes(Opinion): Inherited money doesn’t do much for the economy, so let’s spread it around. MarketWatch article link.

Thursday, April 7:

Alcoa(PBR115) to supply 3D printed titanium fuselage & engine pylon parts for Airbus aircraft. $AA PR link.

L Brands(PBR247) restructuring Victoria’s Secret into 3 business units, to lay off 200 workers in Columbus & New York. $LB PR link.

Barnes & Noble(PBR408) outsourcing certain NOOK technology functions, closing Santa Clara & Taiwan offices. $BKS PR link.

HanesBrands(PBR459) to acquire $210 million/2016 Champion Europe, uniting Champion brand globally. $HBI PR link.

Tesla(PBR651) says in the first week since the Model 3 announcement it has received 325,000 reservations at $1,000 each, representing $14 billion in future sales. $TSLA PR link.

Ruby Tuesday(PBR1041) hires Tom Williams as Chief People Officer. $RT PR link.

Ruby Tuesday(PBR1041) EVP/CFO Jill Golder is leaving, effective 04/11/16. $RT PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says February Total Consumer Credit at $3.568 trillion, +0.49% from January, +6.73% from February 2015. FRB PR link.

Housing: First-time buyers are skipping the starter home and saving for the big house in the suburbs. MarketWatch article link.

Wealth Management: America’s super-rich are hiding trillions of dollars in plain sight. MarketWatch article link.

Oil: What OPEC’s political agenda means for oil prices. MarketWatch article link.

Consumerism: The real reason Wal-Mart(PBR1 $WMT) and Starbucks(PBR178 $SBUX) want you to get their rewards cards. MarketWatch article link.

Wednesday, April 6:

Verizon(PBR15) acquires 24.5% equity in AwesomenessTV, to create short-form mobile video service. $VZ PR link.

Amazon(PBR29 $AMZN): 5 key lines from Jeff Bezos’s latest letter to shareholders. MarketWatch PR link.

Pfizer(PBR56) terminates $150 billion acquisition of Allergan(PBR219 $AGN), cites new US Treasury policies regarding inversions. $PFE PR link.

Sprint(PBR86) signs $2.2 billion deal for the sale and lease-back of certain existing network assets. $S PR link.

Halliburton(PBR90) & Baker Hughes(PBR108 $BHI) to contest US Dept of Justice antitrust suit against merger. $HAL PR link.

Medtronic(PBR133) gets FDA approval for world’s smallest pacemaker for US patients. $MDT PR link.

Monsanto(PBR187 $MON) swears off blockbuster deals. MarketWatch article link.

Allergan(PBR219) reiterates strong standalone growth profile and strategy following termination of Pfizer(PBR56 $PFE) $150 billion acquisition transaction. $AGN PR link.

Constellation Brands(PBR377) enhances fine wine portfolio with The Prisoner Wine Company Brands acquisition, terms not disclosed. $STZ PR link.

Kroger(PBR20) promotes Smith’s VP-Operations Kenny Kimball to president of the division, effective 04/30/16, succeeds retiring Jay Cummins. $KR PR link.

McDonald’s(PBR101) Andrew McKenna retiring after 12 years as chairman, 25 years as a director. $MCD PR link.

Pentair(PBR363) hires Dennis Cassidy as president, Valves & Controls segment. $PNR PR link.

JM Smucker(PBR437) SVP Supply Chain/Operations Dennis Armstrong retiring 09/30/16, promotes Randal Day to SVP Operations & Robert Ferguson to SVP Supply Chain. $SJM PR link.

The US Federal Reserve releases March 15-16 minutes, moderate growth, keeps federal funds rate at 1//4-1/2%. FOMC PR link.

Financial Advisers: Obama administration targets financial advisers better at enriching themselves than clients. MarketWatch PR link.

Tuesday, April 5:

Freeport-McMoRan(PBR128) reorganizes leadership structure in Oil & Gas subsidiary to reduce costs. $FCX PR link.

NextEra Energy(PBR173) completes $1.55 billion sale of 2 Texas fossil generating assets to Energy Future Holdings affiliate. $NEE PR link.

Stryker Corp(PBR283) completes $1.28 billion cash acquisition of defibrillators provider Physio-Control Intl from Bain Capital. $SYK PR link.

PulteGroup(PBR428) responds to founder Bill Pulte’s letter, summarizes events, supports CEO. $PHM PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Oklahoma City, OK, based employee benefits insurance broker Capital Benefits Group. $AJG PR link.

Lumber Liquidators(PBR1061) wins Proposition 65 lawsuit, judge rules in company’s favor. $LL PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says February US Hires were 5.422 million, +5.82% from Jan, +8.20% from February 2015. USDOL article link.

The US Dept of Commerce says March Exports estimated at $178.1 billion, Imports $225.1 billion, Deficit $47.0 billion, -2.4% from February. USDOC article link.

Markit says Final March US Services PMI at 51.3, up from 49.7 in February. Markit article link.

ISM says March Non-Manufacturing NMI at 54.5, up 1.1 from February, ISM article link.

Investment Strategies: Earnings don’t matter—until they do. MarketWatch article link.

Investment Strategies: ‘Seinfeld,’ mean reversion and the best time to rebalance your portfolio. MarketWatch article link.

Auto Industry: Why Tesla(PBR651 $TSLA)’s Model 3 could mean better, cheaper cars from other luxury brands MarketWatch article link.

Monday, April 4:

McKesson(PBR6) completes total of $1.2 billion for acquisitions of Vantage Oncology & of Biologics. $MCK PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR107) to acquire ACC inhibitor NASH developer Nimbus Apollo from Nimbus Therapeutics for $400 million plus $800 million future incentives. $GILD PR link.

Staples(PBR122) and Workbar offer full service coworking spaces in retail locations, initially in Boston area. $SPLS PR link.

Air Products(PBR267) to exit Energy-from-Waste business, take up to $1 billion discontinued operations write-off. $APD PR link.

BB&T(PBR277) complete $1.8 billion acquisition of National Penn Bancshares. $BBT PR link.

Blackstone(PBR352) to acquire majority interest in India based IT services provider Mphasis for $825 million-$1.1 billion. $BX PR link.

Axiall(PBR521) rejects revised $23.12/share cash/stock offer from Westlake Chemical(NYSE: WLK). $AXLL PR link.

Tesla(PBR651) delivers 14,820 vehicles in Q1 2016, some Model X parts supply issues, Model S orders +45% from Q1 2015. $TSLA PR link.

Groupon(PBR652) gets $250 million investment from Atairos, who gets board seat, includes possible collaboration with Comcast(PBR42 $CMCSA). $GRPN PR link.

Armstrong World(PBR772) completes spin-off of $1.2 billion/2015 Armstrong Flooring as separate public company(NYSE: AFI). $AWI PR link.

Brocade Communications(PBR845) to acquire Ruckus Wireless(NYSE: $RKUS) for $14.43/share, $1.5 billion cash/stock. $BRCD PR link.

Charles River Labs(PBR1025) completes $585 million cash acquisition of biopharma/ag/industrial chemicals CDMO co WIL Research. $CRL PR link.

Walt Disney(PBR57 $DIS) COO Thomas Staggs stepping down on 05/06/16, will be a special advisor to the CEO through fiscal year. MarketWatch article link.

Honeywell(PBR74) promotes Darius Adamczyk president/COO, other promotions announced. $HON PR link.

Macy’s(PBR97) hires Douglas Sesler as EVP-Real Estate. $M PR link.

Advance Auto Parts(PBR279) hires Thomas Greco as CEO, effective 04/11/16, interim George Sherman to remain president. $AAP PR link.

Owens & Minor(PBR292) hires Rony Kordahl as EVP, N American Operations, reports to president/CEO. $OMI PR link.

PulteGroup(PBR428) Chairman/CEO Richard Dugas to retire in May 2017, in part due to recent suggestion for CEO change. $PHM PR link.

Alaska Air(PBR454) to acquire Virgin America(NASDAQ: $VA) for $57/share, $4.0 billion cash. includes debt. $ALK PR link.

Triumph Group(PBR578) SVP/CFO Jeffrey McRae leaving after 10-K filing in May, search for new CFO starts. $TGI PR link.

Brunswick(PBR584) promotes Huw Bower to president, Boat Group, continues to report to chairman/CEO. $BC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce estimates Total February US Manufacturing New Orders at $453.9B, -1.73% from January, -3.03% from February 2015. USDOC PR link.

Retirement: New conflict-of-interest rule will protect retirement investors. MarketWatch article link.

Global Economy: IMF says insurers pose risks to the global economy MarketWatch article link.

Healthcare: America’s facing a shortage of primary-care doctors. MarketWatch article link.

Banking: Regulators seen as exhausted in effort to end too-big-to-fail banks. MarketWatch article link.

Energy: Stress in oil credit market hits record level MarketWatch article link.

Housing: A tale of two housing markets is playing out in home equity MarketWatch article link.

Inflation: Why inflation expectations have fallen and won’t get up. MarketWatch article link.

Corporate Regulations: Treasury takes new steps to limit tax inversions. MarketWatch article link.

Friday, April 1:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,792.75, +1.58% from last week, +0.61% MTD/QTD, +2.11% YTD, -2.84% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,914.54, +2.95% from last week, +0.92% MTD/QTD, -1.85% YTD, -5.83% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,072.78, +1.81% from last week, +0.63% MTD/QTD, +1.41% YTD, -2.72% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

General Electric(PBR9 $GE) to sell stake in Poland’s Bank BPH’s Core Bank in $2.1 billion deal. MarketWatch article link.

Community Health System(PBR125) to spinoff public Quorum Health Corp on 04/29/16, will have 38 hospitals in 16 states. $CYH PR link.

Tenet Healthcare(PBR161) completes $575 million sale of Atlanta area 5 hospitals, 26 physician clinics to regional network WellStar Health. $THC PR link.

Bristol-Myers Squibb(PBR185) completes up to $600 million acquisition of private biotech autoimmune diseases therapies developer Padlock Therapeutics. $BMY PR link.

BB&T(PBR277) completes $500 million acquisition of $200 million revenues/year commercial wholesale insurance provider Swett & Crawford. $BBT PR link.

Stryker Corp(PBR283) completes $2.775 billion cash acquisition of medical disposable products provider Sage Products from Madison Dearborn Partners. $SYK PR link.

Frontier Communications(PBR501) completes $10.54 billion acquisition of Verizon(PBR15 $VZ) Wireline Operations in California, Texas & Florida. $FTR PR link.

The Andersons(PBR525) to sell 8 grain & plant nutrients facilities in Iowa to MaxYield Cooperative. $ANDE PR link.

Tesla(PBR651) starts accepting $1,000 to reserve newly announced 215 miles range, starting at $35,000 Model 3. $TSLA PR link.

Tesla(PBR651 $TSLA) Model 3 electric sedan reservations of nearly 200,000 on first day top total of all US 2015 plug-in car sales. MarketWatch article link.

ON Semiconductor(PBR656) extends $20.00/share, $2.4 billion cash tender offer for Fairchild Semiconductor(PBR1000 $FCS) to 04/14/16. $ON PR link.

Beacon Roofing(PBR818) buys Philadelphia, PA, building products distributor Atlantic Building Products. $BECN PR link.

Beacon Roofing(PBR818) buys N Carolina based Lyf-Tym Building Products. $BECN PR link.

Hub Group(PBR611) EVP-Sales Jim Gaw to retire on 06/30/16, Steve Rand being promoted to succeed him. $HUBG PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says March US Employment at 151.3 million, 8.0 million unemployed, 5.0% unemployment rate. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says February Construction Spending at a $1,144.0 billion annual rate, -0.5% from January, +10.3% from February 2015. USDOC PR link.

Manufacturing: ISM says March PMI at 51.8, up from February’s 49.5. ISM PR link.

Consumer Index: March Consumer Sentiment Index at 91.0, -0.7 from February. U of Michigan article link.

Healthcare: America’s 1 million-doctor shortage is right upon us. MarketWatch article link.

Auto Industry: March Total US Auto Sales were $54.691 billion, Average Vehicle Price $32,887, Average Unit Spending $3,005. TrueCar article link.

Auto Industry: Total March US Vehicle Units Sold were 1,595,065, +3.1% from March 2015. Automotive News article link.

Employment: Part-timers might account for labor-force surge. MarketWatch article link.

Minimum Wage: California, New York pass $15 minimum-wage laws MarketWatch article link.

Corporate: Companies with unequal voting rights underperform shareholder friendly ones, study finds. MarketWatch article link.

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The PBR1000 March 2016 Stocks/Commodities Snapshots

May 1, 2016 by

March 2016: The Bull Looks Good as Stocks Rally

Business Bull-ddpavumba ID-100185941

March Was A Good Month For The Bull.

By Larry C. Paxton

In March oil prices rose and stocks followed accordingly.

In terms of volatility, for the S&P500 stocks, out of the 22 trading days in March 2016, 15 of them were positive, 1 was greater than 2%, 0 were less than -2%. 

So, the Bull won March.  But the overall US and world economies continue to send mixed signals, still showing more anxious fragility than comforting stability. The second quarter starts. The question is, can the Bull continue its run?

If you are not a current Subscriber to highly acclaimed The PBR1000 Snapshots  just click here to get your 13 month subscription and automatically download the March 2016 edition.

The following partial tables are excerpts from The PBR1000 March Snapshots. The stock price is for the close of trading on March 31st, Month % Chg is compared to February 29th, YTD % Chg is compared to December 31, 2015, and the 15 Mos % Chg is compared to December 31, 2014.

Table 1(S11): The PBR1000 Top 5 Month Stock Price % Gainers

Table 1 Summary: The range was +209.57% to -72.72%. 915 out of 1,023 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 89.44% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 7.91%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
03/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 15 Mos
% Chg
Republic Airways
 1015 RJETQ 1.95 +209.57 -50.38 -86.63
SM Energy
 769 SM 18.74 +107.30 -4.68 -51.43
Whiting Petroleum
 667 WLL 7.98 +99.00 -15.47 -75.82
US Steel 167 X 16.05 +75.99 +101.13 -39.98
Denbury Resources
 796 DNR 2.22 +73.44 +9.90 -72.69

 

Table 2(S12): The PBR1000 Top 5 Year-To-Date Stock Price % Gainers

Table 2 Summary: The range was +101.13% to -89.39%. 623 out of 1,023 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 60.90% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 3.82%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
03/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 15 Mos
% Chg
US Steel
 167 X 16.05 +75.99 +101.13 -39.98
Cliffs Natural Resources
 518 CLF 3.00 +38.89 +89.87 -57.98
SunCoke Energy
 991 SXC 6.50 +37.42 +87.32 -66.39
AK Steel
 386 AKS 4.13 +44.41 +84.38 -30.47
Alpha Natural Resources
 548 ANRZQ 0.02 +23.03 +70.00 -98.88

 

Table 3(S13): The PBR1000 Top 5 13 Months Stock Price % Gainers

Table 3 Summary: Range was +109.49% to -98.88%. 435 out of 1,019 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 42.69% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of -5.51%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
03/31/15		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 15 Mos
% Chg
Netflix
 438 NFLX 102.23 +9.44 -10.62 +109.49
A-Mark Precious Metals
 419 AMRK 19.90 -8.42 +5.57 +99.60
Amazon.com
 29 AMZN 593.64 +7.44 -12.17 +91.28
Hawaiian Holdings
 820 HA 47.19 +9.69 +33.57 +81.15
Heartland Payment Systems
 821 HPY 96.57 +3.26 +1.85 +79.00

 

Table 4(S15): The PBR1000 Top 5 Market Capitalization

Table 4 Summary: Range was $604.30 billion to $0.00 billion. The average is $19.84 billion, median is $6.21 billion, out of 1,023 companies tracked.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Market Cap($B)
03/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 15 Mos
% Chg
Apple
 3 AAPL 604.30 +12.72 +2.97 -6.66
Alphabet
 44 GOOGL 512.76 +6.76 -1.75 +43.59
Microsoft
 27 MSFT 436.83 +8.55 -1.43 +14.08
Berkshire Hathaway
 5 BRK.A 351.43 +5.99 +7.97 -2.81
ExxonMobil
 2 XOM 347.13 +4.21 +6.97 -11.33
The PBR1000
   20,299.43 +6.41 +0.29 -1.82

 

Table 5: The PBR1000 Index & Selected Stock Exchanges/Commodities

Company Price
03/31/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 15 Mos
% Chg
The PBR1000 68,835.23 +6.59 +1.80 -3.43
DJIA 17,685.09 +7.08 +1.49 -0.77%
NASDAQ 4,869.86 +6.84 -2.75 +2.83
S&P500 2,059.74 +6.60 +0.77 +0.04
Gold 1,235.60 -0.74 +16.54 +4.28
Silver 15.46 +3.48 +12.03 -0.90
Oil 38.34 +13.57 +3.51 -28.03

 

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(The PBR1000 provides astute investors and business professionals with the data, news, and analysis for taking higher probability of success actions. The PBR1000 covers over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administrative headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $14 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to Subscribers of The PBR1000. Subscribers include C-level executives, entrepreneurs, sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisers, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just click here to go to the PBRMarketTools.com Order page.)

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The PBR1000 March 2016 Breaking News Recap

April 8, 2016 by

March 2016: Are We Working Together Yet?

Human Gears-Feelart ID-100158068

It Would Be Boring If Someday We Achieved Working Together As A Perfectly Organized Team.

By Larry C. Paxton

The 1st Quarter of 2016 ended with a lot of unresolved issues and unsure directions.

Most of the breaking news continued to revolve around oil and energy. Prices and supply fluctuated and productivity decisions were left hanging. There is still a lot of confusion around the many facets of this  major commodity that has a great effect on the world economically and politically.

Annual earnings reports continued to flow in with mixed results, but mostly down for corporations with international operations. 

US economic data continues to show mostly moderate growth, with a feeling of fragility. Jobs reports are encouraging, but wage growth still lags. The Federal Reserve continues to take a cautious approach to federal funds rates increases because of the data, especially because of lower than desired inflation rate.

All these issues are compounded by the international continuing war on ISIS and other extremist groups. The attack in Brussels reminds us of how serious this is, as well as the ongoing large immigration of citizens fleeing from war zones in the Middle East.

Finally, there is  the US Presidential election. The turmoil caused by unconventional candidates, the sometimes bizarre caucuses and primary elections processes, continued influx and use of money by the candidates, their superpacks, and by special interest groups would have the Founding Fathers shaking their heads.

The 2nd Quarter is starting, make your predictions and let’s see how it unfolds!

Following are The PBR1000 and economic related breaking news items of note for March 2016, starting with the last active day.

Thursday, March 31:

The PBR1000 End of Month US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends March at 17,685.09, +0.97% from last week, +7.08% MTD, +1.49% QTD/YTD, -3.43% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends March at 4,869.85, +2.02% from last week, +6.84 MTD, -2.75% QTD/YTD, -6.69% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends trading week at 2,059.74, +1.17% from last week, +6.60% MTD, +0.77% QTD/YTD, -3.34% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

General Electric(PBR9)’s GE Capital Files Request for Rescission of Status as a Systemically Important Financial Institution. $GE PR link.

Amazon(PBR29)’s Twitch to launch league for popular iOS esports game ‘Vainglory.’ MarketWatch article link.

Thermo Fisher Scientific(PBR175) completes $14/share, $1.3 billion cash acquisition of cellular/genetic analysis products provider Affymetrix(NASDAQ: AFFX). $TMO PR link.

Starwood Hotels(PBR417) reaffirms to merge with Marriott Intl(PBR211 $MAR) for $77.94/share, $13.3 billion after Anbang Insurance consortium withdraws offer. $HOT PR link.

Boise Cascade(PBR610) completes $215 million acquisition of 270 employees Engineered Lumber unit from Georgia-Pacific. $BCC PR link.

SunEdison(PBR782) confirms subpoena, SEC investigation. MarketWatch article link.

Visteon(PBR351) names VP/Corporate Controller William Robertson to interim CFO, succeeds Jeff Stafeil who is leaving. $VC PR link.

Molson Coors(PBR558) hires Mauricio Restrepo as CFO, effective 05/02/16. $TAP PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says on 03/26/16 Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims at 276,000, insured unemployment rate at 1.6%. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says 4th Quarter US International Investment Position was Assets $23.2T, Liabilities $30.6T, Bal -$7.4T. USDOC PR link.

FreddieMac(PBR41) says on 03/31/16 Average Weekly 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rate was at 4.71% with 0.5 points/fees. $FMCC PR link.

Housing: FreddieMac(PBR41) predicts housing will have its best year in a decade. $FMCC PR link.

The US Dept of Treasury says on 03/30/16 the US National Debt for Public at $13.9 trillion, Intragovernmental holdings $5.3 trillion, total $19.2 trillion. Treas PR link.

Jobs Growth-Healthcare: Sick people are keeping job growth healthy MarketWatch article link.

Manufacturing-Chicago PMI: ISM says March Chicago PMI at 53.6, +6.0 from February. ISM article link.

Business: IMF says it’s new business, not smaller ones, that needs cultivation. MarketWatch article link.

Millennials: Why millennials are such tough customers. MarketWatch article link.

Wednesday, March 30:

IBM(PBR25 $IBM) to buy Salesforce(PBR453 $CRM) consultant Bluewolf Group. MarketWatch article link.

Amazon(PBR29) to open 7th fulfillment center in California in San Bernardino, to create 1,000+ fulltime hourly jobs. $AMZN PR link.

MetLife(PBR39) SIFI ‘to big to fail’ designation rescinded by US District Court, CEO issues statement regarding positive decision. $MET PR link.

No longer ‘too big to fail,’ MetLife(PBR39 $MET) proceeds with breakup plans. MarketWatch article link.

BlackRock(PBR252 $BLK), money-management giant, to cut about 400 jobs. MarketWatch article link.

CBRE(PBR301) to acquire affiliate Atrium AS in Norway, terms not disclosed. $CBG PR link.

Gannet(PBR414) says $12/share, $280 million acquisition of Journal Media Group(NYSE: JMG) delayed, working with Dept of Justice to resolve issues. $GCI PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Farmington, CT, wholesale insurance broker Joseph & Distel, terms not disclosed. $AJG PR link.

Chipotle(PBR561 $CMG) is developing a burger chain. MarketWatch PR link.

Sandridge Energy(PBR975 $SDOC) warns of possible bankruptcy filing. MarketWatch PR link.

PepsiCo(PBR43 $PEP) Frito-Lay N America CEO Tom Greco leaves, Al Carey promoted to CEO of consolidated 3 N America Divisions. MarketWatch article link.

Biogen(PBR282) hires Michel Vounatsos as EVP/Chief Commercial Officer, effective 04/18/16, reports to CEO. $BIIB PR link.

CEO of SunEdison(PBR782 $SUNE)’s two spinoffs abruptly leaves. MarketWatch article link.

Donaldson Co(PBR783) promotes Jeffrey Spethmann to SVP/Industrial Products, effective 04/04/16, reports to president/CEO. $DCI PR link.

Domino’s Pizza(PBR889) promotes Tim McIntyre to EVP/Communications, Investor Relations & Legislative Affairs, succeeds retiring Lynn Liddle, effective early May, reports to CEO. $DPZ PR link.

The US Energy Info Administration says on 03/25/16 the Average Regular Gasoline Price was $2.066/gal, Diesel $2.121, Heating Oil $2.131, Propane $2.008. EIA PR link.

ADP(PBR235) says March Employment up 200,000, 86,000 from small businesses, 75,000 midsized, 39,000 large. $ADP article link.

Venture Capital: Venture-capital firms raising money at highest rate in more than 15 years. MarketWatch article link.

Personal Finance: When it comes to saving money, millennials are killing it. MarketWatch article link.

Economy: Why cheaper imports aren’t giving Americans much relief. MarketWatch article link.

Economy: Here’s why the Fed doesn’t know if inflation is a problem. MarketWatch article link.

Minimum Wage-Opinion: A higher minimum wage is no way to solve the problem of poverty. MarketWatch article link.

Investing: The emotional and psychological risks of investing. MarketWatch article link.

Tuesday, March 29:

Boeing(PBR27) to cut more than 4,500 jobs by June in accelerated cost cutting. MarketWatch article link.

Comcast(PBR42)’s NBC Olympics Surpasses $1 Billion In National Advertising Sales For Rio 2016. $CMSCA article link.

Ross Stores(PBR253) opens 28 new locations, on track to open 90 in 2016. $ROST article link.

Diebold(PBR676) reaches minimum tender condition for $1.8 billion acquisition of Wincor Nixdorf, transaction close expected summer 2016. $DBD PR link.

International Game Technology(PBR878) signs 7 year contract with Virginia Lottery to provide new lottery technologies and services. $IGT PR link.

Investing: The U.S. IPO market is looking like 2009. MarketWatch PR link.

Unions: Supreme Court’s 4-4 decision preserves compulsory union dues MarketWatch article link.

Consumer Survey: Consumer confidence rebounds in March – Conference Board. MarketWatch article link.

Investing: The 3 most valuable indicators for do-it-yourself investors. MarketWatch article link.

Monday, March 28:

Avon(PBR303) & 3% stakeholder group led by Barington Capital Group reach agreement, avoid proxy contest. $AVP PR link.

Marriott Intl(PBR211) reaffirms commitment to acquire Starwood Hotels(PBR417 $HOT), says longterm value is $92.36-$103.46/share. $MAR PR link.

Starwood Hotels(PBR417) says revised $88.66/share cash proposal from Anbang Insurance led investor consortium is superior, working on details. $HOT PR link.

Colgate-Palmolive(PBR168) promotes Justin Skala, Noel Wallace to COO posts, Franck Moison to vice chairman. $CL PR link.

HCP(PBR831) EVP/CFO Timothy Schoen leaving to be president of BioMed Realty, effective 05/22/16, CFO seach initiated. $HCP PR link.

Revlon(PBR900) hires Fabian Garcia as president/CEO, effective 04/15/16. $REV PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says February US Personal Income Annual Rate at $15.7 trillion, +0.2% from January, Personal Savings at 5.4%, +0.1% from January. USDOC article link.

Economy: Consumer spending off to weak start in 2016. MarketWatch article link.

US Manufacturing: U.S. manufacturing dead? Output has doubled in three decades. MarketWatch article link.

Transportation Stocks: Dow transports on track for worst losing streak since August swoon. MarketWatch article link.

International Economy-China: China’s identity crisis: Is it supply or demand? MarketWatch article link.

Friday, March 25:

***Good Friday Observed.***
***US Stock Markets Closed.***

Citigroup(PBR28 $C)’s new Costco(PBR18 $COST) cards coming in May with more benefits. MarketWatch news link.

VF Corp(PBR232) exploring strategic alternatives for its supplies, apparel, and fanware Licensed Sports Group. $VFC PR link.

RR Donnelley(PBR243) announces CEOs/boards for planned separation in 10/2016 into 3 independent public companies. $RRD PR link.

Cameron Intl(PBR269) $66.86/share, $14.8 billion cash/stock acquisition by Schlumberger(NYSE: SLB) to close on 04/01/16, has received Chinese antitrust approval. $CAM PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce in 3rd Est says 4th Quarter Gross Domestic Product was at a +1.4% annual rate. 2015 GDP was +2.4%. USDOC PR link.

Corporate Financial Results: Corporate profits fall in 2015 for first time since Great Recession. MarketWatch article link.

Thursday, March 24:

The PBR1000 End of Trading Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends trading week at 17,515.73, -0.49% from last week, +6.05% MTD, +0.52% QTD/YTD, -4.35% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends trading week at 4,773.50, -0.46% from last week, +4.73 MTD, -4.67% QTD/YTD, -8.53% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends trading week at 2,035.94, -0.67% from last week, +5.37% MTD, -0.39% QTD/YTD, -4.45% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Amazon(PBR29) to open 800,000 sf fulfillment center in Edgerton, KS, will create 1,000 fulltime hourly jobs plus managers. $AMZN letter link.

American Airlines(PBR69) files SEC 8-K announcing 6% pay increase for mainline flight attendants effective 04/01/16. $AAL letter link.

Yahoo!(PBR519) is sent letter by investor Starboard Value expressing concerns and nominating 9 candidates for board. Starboard letter link.

Netflix(PBR447) admits throttling itself on AT&T(PBR12), Verizon(PBR15) wireless networks. MarketWatch news link.

Wednesday, March 23:

American Airlines(PBR69) announces new profit sharing program. $AAL PR link.

Bristol-Myers Squibb(PBR185) to acquire private biotech autoimmune diseases therapies developer Padlock Therapeutics for up to $600 million. $BMY PR link.

Terex(PBR357) in negotiations with Zoomlion to be acquired for $31.00/share cash. $TEX PR link.

Fifth Third Bancorp(PBR387) creates 100 new tech jobs with salary packages worth more than $100,000 each. $FITB PR link.

TeamHealth(PBR498) now 8.0% owned by JANA Partners per agreement. $TMH PR link.

KeyCorp(PBR544) & First Niagara Financial(PBR980 $FNFG) shareholders approve $4.1 billion merger, expects to close in 3Q2016. $KEY PR link.

Allscripts Healthcare(PBR1014) in joint venture to acquire private Netsmart Technologies to combine with Homecare unit to create largest technology company exclusively dedicated to human services and post acute care. $MDRX PR link.

Pinnacle Foods(PBR751) CEO Robert Gamgort leaving by 04/30/16 to become CEO of Keurig(PBR507 $GMCR). $PF PR link.

The US Dept of HUD says February New Family Home Sales at a 512,000 annual rate, +2.0% from January, -6.1% from February 2015. HUD PR link.

Tuesday, March 22:

How GE(PBR9) Exorcised the Ghost of Jack Welch to Become a 124-Year-Old Startup. Bloomberg Business article link.

Southern Co(PBR155) gets California regulators approval for $12 billion acquisition of AGL Resources(PBR452 $GAS), still expected to close 2H2016. $SO PR link.

AutoZone(PBR290) authorizes additional $750 million for ongoing share repurchase program. $AZO PR link.

Lumber Liquidators(PBR1061) resolves California Air Resources Board inquiry. $LL PR link.

Tenet Healthcare(PBR161) promotes Eric Evans to president, Hospital Operations, succeeds leaving Britt Reynolds. $THC PR link.

Newell rubbermaid(PBR434) hires Russ Torres to new position of Chief Transformation Officer. $NWL PR link.

Human Resources: Below the Surface – Emerging Global Motivators & Job Search Preferences. Manpower(PBR132) article link.

Monday, March 21:

Apple(PBR5 $AAPL) announces iPhone SE, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, lower watch prices MarketWatch PR link.

Anthem(PBR38) files suit against Express Scripts(PBR22 $ESRX) to recover damages for pricing & operations issues. $ANTM PR link.

Cisco(PBR60) completes $1.4 billion acquisition of private IoT services platform provider Jasper Technologies. $CSCO PR link.

Marriott Intl(PBR211) to acquire Starwood Hotels(PBR417 $HOT) for $79.53/share, $13.6 billion, in revised agreement. $MAR PR link.

Sherwin-Williams(PBR251) to acquire Valspar(PBR526 $VAL) for $113.00/share, $11.3 billion. $SHW PR link.

EMCOR(PBR392) to acquire electrical/instrumentation services providers Ardent Services and Rabalais Constructors for $205 million cash. $EME PR link.

Western Union(PBR441) to be first to offer Cubans & other worldwide citizens remittances services to Cuba in 2H2016. $WU PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) to acquire global insurance management operations of Kane Group, terms not disclosed. $AJG PR link.

NASDAQ(PBR618) to acquire 10,000 clients board portal solution Boardvantage for $200 million. $NDAQ PR link.

Olin Corp(PBR838) to reduce chlor alkali production. $OLN PR link.

Red Robin(PBR1046) acquires 13 franchised restaurants with almost 800 employees in Texas. $RRGB PR link.

Visteon(PBR351) hires Markus Schupfner as Chief Technology Officer, effective 04/01/16. $VC PR link.

General Cable(PBR418) EVP/CFO Brian Robinson to leave pending identification of successor and transition period. $BGC PR link.

Griffon Corp(PBR890) Telephonics subsidiary president Joseph Battaglia to retire 09/30/16, COO Kevin McSweeney to become president. $GFF PR link.

Mattress Firm(PBR932) president Ken Murphy adds CEO title, Steve Stagner becomes Executive Chairman. $MFRM PR link.

The National Assn of Realtors says February Existing Home Sales at a 5.08 million annual rate, -7.1% from January, +2.2% from February 2015. NAR PR link.

Battery Technologies: Big battery breakthroughs are coming, thanks to taxpayers’ investments. MarketWatch article link.

Friday, March 18:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,602.30, +2.26% from last week, +6.57% MTD, +1.02% QTD/YTD, -3.88% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,795.65, +0.99% from last week, +5.22 MTD, -4.23% QTD/YTD, -8.11% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,049.58, +1.35% from last week, +6.07% MTD, +0.28% QTD/YTD, -3.81% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Bank of America(PBR24) adds $800 million to $4.0 billion share repurchase program authorized in 2015. $BAC PR link.

Walgreens Boots Alliance(PBR36) exercises warrants to purchase $1.17 billion & 14.97% of AmerisourceBergen(PBR16 $ABC) common shares. $WBA PR link.

Staples(PBR122) & Office Depot(PBR182 $ODP) send letter to customers regarding the upcoming hearing in US District Court per lawsuit by FTC regarding the proposed merger. $SPLS PR link.

US Steel(PBR167) to idle plants, lay off workers. $X PR link.

MGM Resorts(PBR273) & partner Infinity World to sell their Las Vegas CityCenter The Shops at Crystals mall to Invesco & Simon Property(PBR494) for $1.1 billion. $MGM PR link.

Airbus plans defense-unit sale to KKR(PBR332) for $1.2 billion. $KKR PR link.

Starwood Hotels(PBR417) determines Anbang Insurance & partners $76/share offer is superior to the Marriott Intl(PBR211 $MAR) offer & to terminate that agreement. $HOT PR link.

Starwood Hotels(PBR417) gives details for spin-off completion & merger of its vacation ownership business. $HOT PR link.

ON Semiconductor(PBR656) extends $20.00/share, $2.4 billion cash tender offer for Fairchild Semiconductor(PBR1000 $FCS) to 03/31/16. $ON PR link.

Thursday, March 17:

McKesson(PBR6) to cut 1,600 jobs in US. $MCK PR link.

JPMorgan Chase(PBR21) authorizes $1.88 billion increase to $6.4 billion equity repurchase program. $JPM PR link.

Ingram Micro(PBR62) to acquire $125 million/yr unified communications/collaboration value added distributor NETXUSA. $IM PR link.

Newell Rubbermaid(PBR434) to sell its Levolor & Kirsch window coverings business to Hunter Douglas for $270 million. $NWL PR link.

IDEX(PBR861) completes $224.2 million cash acquisition of $120 million/yr safety/emergency response equipment manufacturer Akron Brass. $IEX PR link.

Aeropostale(PBR924) in 10-K report says evaluating strategic alternatives, including sale or restructuring of company. $ARO PR link.

SeaWorld(PBR1013) announces last generation of orcas in its care. $SEAS PR link.

American Capital Agency(PBR992) promotes Gary Kain to CEO, Alvin Puryear as non-executive chair. $AGNCP PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says that January Job Openings were at a historical high of 5.541 million, Hires 5.030 million, Separations 4.903 million. USDOL PR link.

Technology/Wearables: Apple(PBR5) will lead surge in #wearable shipments through 2020. MarketWatch PR link.

Wednesday, March 16:

Peabody Energy(PBR372) in 2015 10-K report indicates it may have to file for bankruptcy. $BTU PR link.

Chipotle(PBR561 $CMG) is giving away millions of free burritos to lure back wary customers. MarketWatch article link.

SunEdison(PBR782) delays filing of 10-K report, has identified material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting. $SUNE PR link.

Kroger(PBR20) promotes Mary Ellen Adcock to Group VP-Retail Operations, effective 05/16/16, succeeds retiring Marnette Perry. $KR PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says February Average Employee Current Earnings at $25.35/hour, -0.12% from January, +2.2% from February 2015. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says February Consumer Price Index was -0.2% from January, +1.0 over last 12 mos. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of HUD says February Privately-Owned Housing Units Building Permits were at a 1,167,000 annual rate, -3.1% from January, +6.3% from February 2015. HUD PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says February US Total Industrial Production was -0.5% from January, -1.0% from February 2015. FRB PR link.

The US Federal Reserve in March meeting maintains 0.25-0.50 federal funds rate at this time. FRB PR link.

Gambling: This is how much Americans will spend betting on March Madness games. MarketWatch article link.

Global Economy: 59% of fund managers see an economy in its final innings — highest percent since 2008. MarketWatch article link.

Housing: FreddieMac(PBR41) survey shows more than half of renters plan to continue renting. $FMCC PR link.

Tuesday, March 15:

UPS(PBR47) to invest $100 million in compressed natural gas, CNG vehicles, & related infrastructure. $UPS PR link.

Alcoa(PBR115) precision engineering/advanced manufacturing public spinoff to be named Arconic, separation planned for 2H2016. $AA PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Oklanoma based retail insurance broker Bomford, Couch & Wilson, terms not disclosed. $AA PR link.

CME Group(PBR664) to sell Aurora, IL, data center to CyrusOne(NASDAQ: CONE) for $130 million, then do 15 year lease back. $CME PR link.

Eastman Kodak(PBR871) talking to prospective buyers of its PROSPER Inkjet busness. $KODK PR link.

CBRE(PBR301) Global Investors CEO Matt Khourie to be CEO of Trammell Crow Co unit, succeeds Danny Queenan who remains COO Global Investors; CEO CBRE Clarion Securities Ritson Ferguson to add CEO Global Investors title. $CBG PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says February Total Producer Price Index for Final Demand at -0.2%, with Goods at -0.6%, Services 0.0%. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says January Total Trade Sales & Mfrs Shipments were at $1.296 trillion, -0.4% from December, -1.1% from January 2015. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says February Total US Retail & Food Services Sales were $447.3 billion, -0.1% from January, +3.1% from February 2015 USDOC PR link.

Monday, March 14:

International Paper(PBR117) to sell Asia based 18 factories, 3,000 employees, corrugated packaging business for $150 million. $IP PR link.

Avon(PBR303) to reduce workforce worldwide by 2,500 under 3 year plan, 1,700 in 2016. $AVP PR link.

Starwood Hotels(PBR417) receives unsolicited $76.00/share cash offer, has $63.74/share agreement with Marriott Intl(PBR211 $MAR). $HOT PR link.

Fresh Market(PBR942) to be acquired by Apollo Global Mgmt(PBR906) for $28.50/share, $1.36 billion cash. $TFM PR link.

Cabot Corp(PBR607) President/CEO Patrick Prevost resigns for health reasons, remains on board. EVP Sean Keohane promoted to president/CEO. $CBT PR link.

New York Times(PBR971) Andy Rosenthal steps down as Editorial Page Editor, to be a columnist, James Bennet rejoins to succeed him. $NYT PR link.

Auto Loans: Auto sales at risk as defaults of subprime loans rise. MarketWatch PR link.

Economy: Morgan Stanley(PBR79) cuts S&P 500 target as recession fears rise. MarketWatch PR link.

Jobs: There’s little slack left in the jobs market, former Obama adviser says. MarketWatch PR link.

World Economy: Chinese economic data paint a gloomy picture. MarketWatch PR link.

Oil: OPEC stands pat on 2016 global oil demand estimate. MarketWatch PR link.

Friday, March 11:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,213.31, +1.21% from last week, +4.22% MTD, -1.22% QTD/YTD, -6.00% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,748.47, +0.67% from last week, +4.18 MTD, -5.17% QTD/YTD, -9.01% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 2,022.19, +1.11% from last week, +4.66% MTD, -1.06% QTD/YTD, -5.10% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Ford(PBR10) forms Ford Smart Mobility LLC subsidiary to develop, invest in mobility services, Jim Hackett is chairman. $F PR link.

HARMAN Intl(PBR456) completes acquisition of global automotive cyber security provider TowerSec, terms not disclosed. $HAR PR link.

Armstrong World(PBR772) to spin-off $1.2 billion/2015 Armstrong Flooring as separate public company with 04/01/16 distribution date. $AWI PR link.

IGT(PBR878) signs 10+ year agreement with N. Carolina Education Lottery to provide lottery technologies & services. $IGT PR link.

Boeing(PBR27) CTO/SVP Engineering John Tracy to retire late summer; Colbert, Fancher, Hyslop, Shanahan named to new SVP roles. $BA PR link.

Polaris Industries(PBR531) hires Robert Mack as SVP-Corporate Development/Strategy & president, Adjacent Markets, effective 04/01/16. $PII PR link.

SunEdison(PBR782) hires Ilan Daskal as CFO Designee, by 04/04/16. $SUNE PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says February Import Prices Index was -0.3% from January, -6.1% between February 2015 & February 2016. USDOL PR link.

Thursday, March 10:

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Arlington Hts, IL, Midwest retail insurance broker Vincent L Braband Insurance, terms not disclosed. $AJG PR link.

Yahoo!(PBR519) Sports unit partners with NHL to bring fans free, live out-of-market games & on-demand premium content. $YHOO PR link.

Iron Mountain(PBR663) acquires Baltics’ leading doc storage/archiving company Archyyvu Sistemos, terms not disclosed. $IRM PR link.

PolyOne(PBR586) promotes Michael Garratt as SVP/Chief Commercial Officer & Donald Wiseman SVP & president, Performance Products & Solutions. $POL PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says Total 4th Quarter US Domestic Nonfinancial Debt was at $45.1 trillion, with $14.1 trillion from Household Debt, $12.8 trillion from Business Debt, & $18.1 trillion from Government Debt. FRB PR link.

The US Dept of Treasury says February Receipts at $169.1 billion, Outlays $361.8 billion, Deficit $192.6 billion, fiscal YTD(5 mos) Deficit $353.0 billion. Treasury PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says December Employee Costs for Employee Compensation averaged Wages $23.06/hr, Benefits $10.52/hr, Total $33.58/hr. USDOL PR link.

Personal Finance: Consumers Are Still Lagging in Savings Despite Cheaper Gas and Lower Mortgage Rates. MainStreet article link.

Housing: Another 1 million homes regained positive equity in 2015, CoreLogic says. MarketWatch article link.

Wednesday, March 9:

Amazon(PBR29 $AMZN) to be provided air cargo services by Air Transport Services Group. $ATSG PR link.

Pfizer(PBR56) commences $5 billion accelerated share repurchase program. $PFE PR link.

NASDAQ(PBR618) to acquire International Securities Exchange from Deutsche Borse Group for $1.1 billion. $NDAQ PR link.

ADT(PBR627) acquisition by Apollo Global Mgmt(PBR906 $APO) affiliate expected to close before June 2016. $ADT PR link.

Tailored Brands(PBR643) to close around 250 Jos Banks/Mens Wearhouse stores during fiscal year 2016. $TLRD PR link.

Visteon(PBR351) hires Brett Pynnonen as VP & General Counsel, effective 03/14/16, succeeds leaving Peter Ziparo. $VC PR link.

Dana Holding(PBR382) hires Jonathan Collins as CFO, effective 03/28/16. $DAN PR link.

Darden Restaurants(PBR398) appoints Ricardo Cardenas to CFO, replaces Jeffrey Davis who has left. $DRI PR link.

Crown Castle(PBR603) hires Daniel Schlanger as SVP, to be CFO on 06/01/16. $CCI PR link.

American Eagle Outfitters(PBR640) Chief Financial & Admin Officer Mary Boland to retire on 04/01/16. $AEO PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says January Wholesale Sales were at $433.1 billion, -1.3% from December, -3.1% from January 2015. USDOC PR link.

Advertising Industry: Advertisers taking money out of TV, moving more to digital in 2017 MarketWatch article link.

Tuesday, March 8:

Intel(PBR51) acquires Israeli virtual reality startup Replay Technologies for immersive sports, terms not disclosed. $INTC PR link.

Lockheed Martin(PBR64) Aeronautics unit announces voluntary layoff program to reduce employment by 1,000 positions in the US. $LMT PR link.

Whole Foods Market(PBR203 $WFM) and NRG(PBR186) to plan large scale commercial solar project portfolio with 84 stores. $NRG PR link.

CarMax(PBR202) hiring more than 1,600 positions nationwide. $KMX PR link.

AutoZone(PBR290) is hiring 10,000 full-time/part-time AutoZoners for its 5,100+ stores. $AZO PR link.

Intuit(PBR529 $INTU) sheds QuickBase in plan to pare down. MarketWatch article link.

Cerner(PBR628) authorizes up to $300 million share repurchase program, no time limit. $CERN PR link.

SunEdison(PBR782 $SUNE) sent letter by Vivant Solar(NYSE: VSLR) terminating merger agreement, plans to seek legal remedies for willful breach. $VSLR PR link.

Calpine Corp(PBR330) hires Charlie Gates as EVP-Power Operations, effective 04/01/16. $CPN PR link.

American Axle & Mfg(PBR602) VP-Driveline Product Engineering Philip Guys now also Chief Technology Officer. $AAM PR link.

Mortgages: Equifax(PBR795) says January Total Balance of First Mortgages was $8.3 trillion, +2.1% from January 2015. $EFX PR link.

Corporate Finance: U.S. companies have enough liquidity for next 12 months, but face risk after that. MarketWatch PR link.

Employment: Manpower(PBR132) releases Q2 2016 hiring outlook. $MAN infographic link.

Housing/Foreclosures: 38,000 completed foreclosures in January, down 16.2% YOY. CoreLogic article link.

Monday, March 7:

US Supreme Court turns away Apple(PBR5 $AAPL) appeal in e-books antitrust case, expected to pay $450 million as part of settlement. MarketWatch PR link.

United Continental(PBR77) president/CEO Oscar Munoz to return to duties full time on 03/14/16 after heart transplant recovery. $UAL PR link.

Southern Co(PBR155) Power subsidiary acquires 120 megawatt East Pecos Solar Facility, terms not disclosed. $SO PR link.

Pepco(PBR493 $POM) and Exelon(PBR102) revise filing to provide several pathways to secure merger’s significant benefits for Pepco customers. $EXC PR link.

AMC Networks(PBR851) announces up to $500 million share repurchase program, no deadline set. $AMCX PR link.

JM Smucker(PBR437) to promote Mark Smucker to President/CEO on 05/01/16, Richard Smucker to be Executive Chairman, Timothy Smucker to be Chairman Emeritus. $SJM PR link.

United Rentals(PBR438) hires Chris Hummel as SVP-Chief Marketing Officer. $URI PR link.

Xylem(PBR575) hires Mark Rajkowski to be SVP-CFO starting 03/28/16. $XYL PR link.

CME Group(PBR664) announces 4 Managing Director promotions. $CME PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says January Consumer Debt is at $3.533 trillion, +0.30% from December, +6.48% from January 2015. FRB PR link.

Inflation: Fed’s Fischer and Brainard disagree on inflation threat. MarketWatch article link.

Wages/Jobs: ‘Silver tsunami’ is holding down wage growth, says Fed study. MarketWatch article link.

Friday, March 4:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 17,006.77, +2.20% from last week, +2.97% MTD, -2.40% QTD/YTD, -7.13% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,717.02, +2.76% from last week, +3.49 MTD, -5.80% QTD/YTD, -9.62% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 1,999.99, +2.67% from last week, +3.51% MTD, -2.15% QTD/YTD, -6.14% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Intuit(PBR529) selling its Quicken unit to HIG Capital, expected to close in April, terms not disclosed. $INTU PR link.

Manitowoc(PBR579) completes spinoff of independent public company Manitowoc Foodservices(NYSE: MFS). $MTW PR link.

SunEdison(PBR782) & TerraForm Power settle & terminate Latin America Power acquisition. $SUNE PR link.

Republic Airways(PBR1015) VP-Finance & Treasurer Jason Secore has resigned effective 03/24/16, taking position at AAR Corp(PBR883). $RJET PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says 158.9 million people employed in February, 7.816 million unemployed, 4.9% unemployment rate. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says January Exports were $176.5 billion, Imports $222.1 billion, for Deficit of $45.6 billion, Deficit was $44.7 billion in December. USDOC PR link.

Thursday, March 3:

AT&T(PBR12) plans to sell linear TV ads using Web-like methods. MarketWatch article link.

Verizon(PBR15 $VZ) & Hearst Corp form joint venture Verizon Hearst Media Partners to create new digital video content brands for mobile obsessed millenials. MarketWatch article link.

Barnes & Noble(PBR408) to open 4 new stores in fiscal year 2017 using a new concept. $BKS PR link.

Lithia Motors(PBR451) authorizes $250 million Class A shares repurchase program. $LAD PR link.

Fiserv(PBR474) completes $200 million cash acquisition of ACI Worldwide(NASDAQ: ACIW)‘s digital banking/electronics payments provider unit Community Financial Services. $FISV PR link.

Herbalife(PBR487) files SEC Form 8-K, corrects ‘Active New Member’ metrics for 2015. $HLF PR link.

AMC Entertainment(PBR728) to acquire Carmike Cinemas(NASDAQ: CKEC) for $30/share, $1.1 billion cash, creates largest movie theater chain in the US & world. $AMC PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says 4Q2015 Business Sector Labor Productivity changed at a -2.2% annual rate, output +1.0%, hrs worked +3.2%. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says January New Orders-Manufactured Durable Goods at $237.1 million, Non-Durable at $226.8 million, total $463.9 million, +1.6% from December. USDOC PR link.

Wednesday, March 2:

ExxonMobil(PBR2) adjusts capital expenditures to $23 billion in 2016, down 25% from 2015. $XOM PR link.

McKesson(PBR6) to acquire Canada based 8,600 employees 470+ retail pharmacies Rexall Health from Katz Group for $2.2 billion. $MCK PR link.

AT&T(PBR12 $T) prepping DirecTV unit to enter crowded online video marketplace. MarketWatch article link.

Target(PBR40 $TGT) partners with Finnish design house Marimekko for next ‘capsule collection,’ 200 items available 04/17/16. MarketWatch article link.

Prudential Financial(PBR55) completes $529 million purchase from partner ILC for 40% ownership stake in Chile based retirement services provider AFP Habitat. $PRU PR link.

Yahoo!(PBR519) launches new experience dedicated to esports, names Yahoo Esports leadership team. $YHOO PR link.

SunEdison(PBR782 $SUNE) buyout of Vivint Solar in jeopardy. MarketWatch article link.

Sprint(PBR86) hires Robert Hackl to be Chief Experience Officer/President-National Sales on 04/01/16. $S PR link.

Chesapeake Energy(PBR131 $CHK) former CEO Aubrey McClendon, shale pioneer, dead after car crash. MarketWatch article link.

Huntsman Corp(PBR244) promotes Scott Wright to president, Advanced Materials division, effective 06/01/16, succeeds James Huntsman. $HUN PR link.

Hess Corp(PBR248) elects James Quigley as chairman, succeeds Mark Williams who has retired for health reasons. $HES PR link.

The US Federal Reserve releases Beige Book, says business contacts generally optimistic about future economic growth. FRB PR link.

Jobs: ADP(PBR235)’s February National Employment Report says small businesses added 76,000 jobs, midsized 62,000, large 76,000, total 214,000. $ADP article link.

Economy Opinion: 7 big risks are now plaguing the U.S. and global economies. MarketWatch article link.

Energy Opinion: Why OPEC will never cut production again. MarketWatch article link.

Tuesday, March 1:

Cisco(PBR60) to expand data center portfolio technologies with acquisition of private CliQr for $260 million cash, to close in 3Q2016. $CSCO PR link.

Honeywell(PBR74) no longer pursuing combination with United Technologies(PBR45 $UTX). $HON PR link.

EMC Corp(PBR111 $EMC) $59 billion acquisition by Dell is on track, says Michael Dell. http://on.mktw.net/1Y0h31HMarketWatch article link.

Anadarko Petroleum(PBR154) to cut capital expenditures by almost 50%, sell $3 billion in assets in 2016. $APC PR link.

Assurant(PBR268) completes $940 million sale of employee benefits business to Canada’s Sun Life Financial. $AIZ PR link.

Avon(PBR303) gets $435 million investment from Cerberus Capital Management for 16.6% stake; N American business split off as a separate private company. $AVP PR link.

McGraw Hill(PBR477) selling 2 assets from S&P Global Market Intelligence division, SPSE & CMA, to Intercontinental Exchange(PBR556 $ICE), terms not disclosed. $MHFI PR link.

NextEra Energy(PBR173) promotes John Ketchum to EVP/Finance & CFO, succeeds retiring Moray Dewhurst. $NEE PR link.

CF Industries(PBR502) hires Tom Grooms as Chief Information Officer. $CF PR link.

Brinker Intl(PBR697) hires John Cywinski as EVP-Strategic Innovation. $EAT PR link.

Barnes Group(PBR1030) hires Michael Beck as company SVP & president of Aerospace unit. $B PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says January Construction Spending Annual Rate at $1.141 trillion, +1.5% from December, +10.4% from January 2015. USDOC PR link.

Auto Industry: Automakers to see $44 billion in revenue on solid new vehicle sales growth in February. TrueCar PR link.

Auto Industry: February Auto Sales were at 1,343,922 units, +6.8% from February 2015. Automotive News PR link.

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(The PBR1000 is the premiere business intelligence service covering over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administration headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $14 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to The PBR1000 subscribers. Users include C-level executives, entrepreneurs,  sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisors, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just go to the PBRMarketTools.com Subscribe page.)

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Filed Under: Recaps Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The PBR1000 February 2016 Stocks/Commodities Snapshots

March 12, 2016 by

February 2016: Which Direction Are The Markets Heading?

Increase Decrease Chart-hywards ID-100395866

Stock Market and Commodities Prices…
Which Direction Will They Go
Short Term and Long Term?

 

By Larry C. Paxton

Throughout February 2016 the stock markets bounced up and down almost in synch with the price of oil. Annual corporate earnings reports continued to be mixed, also affected by oil industry companies. The markets also seemed to fluctuate on conjecture and mixed messages from Federal Reserve governors on how many and when interest rates will climb again.

In terms of volatility, out of the 20 trading days in February 2016, 11 of them were positive, 2 were less than -2%, compared to 5 in January, for the NASDAQ. 

Both bulls and bears continue to make their case for the future, but the feeling is that there is really no overwhelming and convincing evidence one way or the other. However, I am sure there will be in hindsight down the road.

If you are not a current Subscriber to The PBR1000  just click here to get your 13 month subscription and automatically download the current 2016 edition of The PBR1000 Snapshots.

In the following tables the stock price is for the close of trading on February 29th, Month % Chg is compared to December 31st, YTD % Chg is compared to January 30, 2015, and the 14 Mos % Chg is compared to December 31, 2014.

Table 1(S11): The PBR1000 Top 5 Month Stock Price % Gainers

Table 1 Summary: The range was +75.74% to -70.43%. 619 out of 1,030 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 60.10% of the companies tracked. The median was a gain of 1.65%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
02/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 14 Mos
% Chg
Groupon
 640 GRPN 4.78 +75.74 +55.70 -42.13
Titan International
 887 TWI 5.07 +69.00 +28.68 -52.30
Freeport McMoRan
 126 FCX 7.63 +65.87 +12.70 -67.34
Modine Manufacturing 962 MOD 9.48 +47.66 +4.75 -30.29
NII Holdings
 588 NIHD 5.31 +45.48 +5.15 n/a

 

Table 2(S12): The PBR1000 Top 5 Year-To-Date Stock Price % Gainers

Table 2 Summary: The range was +212.50% to -83.97%. 383 out of 1,030 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 37.18% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of 3.92%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
02/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 14 Mos
% Chg
Walter Energy
 984 WLTGQ 0.04 +12.90 +212.50 -97.46
Groupon
 640 GRPN 4.78 +75.74 +55.70 -42.13
J.C. Penney
 232 JCP 10.20 +40.50 +53.15 +57.41
Newmont Mining
 354 NEM 25.83 +29.41 +43.58 +36.67
Alpha Natural Resources
 536 ANRZQ 0.02 -3.18 +38.18 -99.09

 

Table 3(S13): The PBR1000 Top 5 13 Months Stock Price % Gainers

Table 3 Summary: Range was +117.95% to -99.09%. 340 out of 1,026 stock prices were up 0.00% or more, or 33.14% of the companies tracked. The median was a loss of -12.66%.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Price
02/29/15		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 14 Mos
% Chg
A-Mark Precious Metals
 410 AMRK 21.73 +28.35 +15.28 +117.95
Netflix
 438 NFLX 93.41 +1.71 -18.33 +91.41
Skechers
 527 SKX 32.92 +16.58 +8.97 +78.72
Amazon.com
 31 AMZN 552.52 -5.87 -18.25 +78.03
Heartland Payment Systems
 401 HPY 93.52 +1.56 -1.37 +73.35

 

Table 4(S15): The PBR1000 Top 5 Market Capitalization

Table 4 Summary: Range was $536.11 billion to $0.00 billion. The average is $18.56 billion, median is $5.71 billion, out of 1,030 companies tracked.

Company PBR
Rank		 Symbol Market Cap($B)
02/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 14 Mos
% Chg
Apple
 3 AAPL 536.11 -1.21 -8.65 -17.19
Alphabet
 44 GOOGL 480.29 -6.00 -7.97 +34.50
Microsoft
 27 MSFT 402.43 -8.55 -9.19 +5.10
ExxonMobil
 2 XOM 333.10 +2.78 +2.65 -14.92
Berkshire Hathaway
 5 BRK.A 331.57 +6.95 +1.87 -8.30
The PBR1000
   19,119.29 -0.54 -5.74 -7.73

 

Table 5: The PBR1000 Index & Selected Stock Exchanges/Commodities

Company Price
02/29/16		 Mo
% Chg		 YTD
% Chg		 14 Mos
% Chg
The PBR1000 64,933.39 -0.28 -6.05 -7.47
DJIA 16,516.50 +0.30 -5.21 -7.33
NASDAQ 4,557.95 -1.21 -8.98 -3.76
S&P500 1,932.23 -0.41 -5.47 -6.15
Gold 1,244.80 +11.30 +17.41 +5.06
Silver 14.94 +4.77 +8.26 -4.23
Oil 33.76 +0.06 -8.86 -36.62

 

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Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @ThePBR1000.

(The PBR1000 provides astute investors and business professionals with the data, news, and analysis for taking higher probability of success actions. The PBR1000 covers over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administrative headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $14 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to Subscribers of The PBR1000. Subscribers include C-level executives, entrepreneurs, sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisers, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just click here to go to the PBRMarketTools.com Order page.)

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Filed Under: Snapshots Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The PBR1000 February 2016 Breaking News Recap

March 5, 2016 by

February 2016: Have You Checked Your Oil Levels Recently?

Check Oil-rukawajung ID-100355920

Hopefully Your Car Oil Levels
Are More Predictable
Than The Price Of Oil!

 

By Larry C. Paxton

In the office we try to summarize what were the big influences on news for that day. In February just about every day the top news event related to what was happening with oil. Were oil prices up or down? How were the major players adapting? Were they selling off or acquiring assets? Were they laying off people? What changes were they making for capital expenditures? On the world stage people were following OPEC decisions intently. Oil was the dominant theme by far in February, as it has been for some time now.

The other big influences were the earnings reports for 2015 which continued to flood in during February. Bottomline, the results were very mixed, not much to get excited about.

Jobs and wages had their few days of interest as well, once again not a big encouragement.

Perhaps the biggest entertainment value was watching the presidential debates, which continue to be mostly a lot of talk and not much substance, with a lot of focus on one candidate, Donald Trump, a capitalist icon for many, a member of the “One Percent Club” who seems to be having great appeal to a wide range of people who feel disenfranchised by the political system.

There were certainly other influences, like global growth concerns, shareholder activism, and mixed economic data. We will address these further in future blog posts.

Following are The PBR1000 and economic related news items of note for February 2016, starting with the last active day.

Monday, February 29:

The PBR1000 February US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends February at 16,516.50, -0.74% from last Friday, +0.30% MTD, -5.21% QTD/YTD, -9.81% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends February at 4,557.95, -0.71% from last Friday, -1.21% MTD, -8.98% QTD/YTD, -12.66% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends February at 1,932.23, -0.81% from last Friday, -0.41% MTD, -5.47% QTD/YTD, -9.32% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Berkshire Hathaway(PBR4)‘s Warren Buffett’s 2015 letter reflects his optimism about US business. $BRKA PR link.

Proctor & Gamble(PBR33) completes transfer of Duracell batteries unit to Berkshire Hathaway(PBR4 $BRKA), buys 52 million P&G shares from BH for $1.8 billion. $PG PR link.

MetLife(PBR39) 4,000 advisors Retail Advisor Force unit being acquired by MassMutual, to close by mid 2016, terms not disclosed. $MET PR link.

Sysco(PBR61) to reduce workforce by 2%, 1,200 people, within the next 15 months, part of 3 year plan. $SYY PR link.

American Express(PBR83) to sell its Costco(PBR18 $COST) US cobranded card portfolio to CitiGroup(PBR28 $C) for $1 billion. $AXP PR link.

Sprint(PBR86) to do joint venture with Europe’s Dixons Carphone wireless retailer, to open 500 Sprint stores in the U.S. $S PR link.

Icahn Enterprises(PBR147 $IEP) owns 82% of Federal-Mogul common shares, proposes $7.00/share buyout of remaining shares. $FDML PR link.

Computer Sciences(PBR237) completes acquisition of Australia based 3,000 employee IT services company UXC(ASX: UXC) for $308 million. $CSC PR link.

CONSOL Energy(PBR598) to sell SW Virginia Buchanan Mine and other assets to Coronado IV for $420 million. $CNX PR link.

DENTSPLY(PBR694) completes $14.5 billion acquisition of Sirona Dental(NASDAQ: SIRO), now DENTSPLY Sirona, now world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products. $XRAY PR link.

GoPro(PBR1010) acquires mobile editing apps Splice & Replay, terms not disclosed. $GPRO PR link.

Target(PBR40) hires Arthur Valdez as EVP-Chief Supply Chain & Logistics Officer, reports to EVP/COO John Mulligan. $TGT PR link.

Lockheed Martin(PBR64) promotes John Rood to SVP-International, succeeds retiring Pat Dewar. $LMT PR link.

Lockheed Martin(PBR64) promotes John Mollard to VP & Treasurer, effective 04/04/16, succeeds Ken Possenriede who will be VP Finance/Business Operations at Aeronautics unit. $LMT PR link.

Carlisle Cos(PBR650) appoints Amelia Murillo as VP-Human Resources. $CSL PR link.

Cinemark(PBR739) president/COO Robert Copple has resigned. $CNK PR link.

Lumber Liquidators(PBR1061) hires Dennis Knowles as COO. $LL PR link.

Housing: FreddieMac(PBR42) releases February Insight & Outlook. $FMCC PR link.

Friday, February 26:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 16,639.77, +1.51% from last week, +1.05% MTD, -4.51% QTD/YTD, -9.13% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,590.47, +1.91% from last week, -0.51 MTD, -8.33% QTD/YTD, -12.04% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 1,948.05, +1.58% from last week, +0.40% MTD, -4.69% QTD/YTD, -8.58% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Apple(PBR5 $AAPL) fires back in court that FBI seeks ‘dangerous power.’ MarketWatch article link.

Caterpillar(PBR54) to end production of on-highway vocational trucks, to impact about 70 positions. $CAT PR link.

Honeywell(PBR74) reveals offer for United Technologies(PBR45 $UTX), $108/share, $39 billion cash/stock. $HON PR link.

United Technologies(PBR45) says Honeywell(PBR74 $HON) $108/share, $39 billion cash/stock offer has regulatory challenges, customer concerns, and is grossly undervalued. $UTX PR link.

Macy’s(PBR97) increases share repurchase program by $1.5 billion, new balance around $2 billion. $M PR link.

JCPenney(PBR234 $JCP) goes private (label) in fight to continue turnaround. MarketWatch article link.

Liberty Media(PBR534) settles litigation with Vivendi for $775 million, has $1.3 billion balance for share repurchase program. $LMCA PR link.

Groupon(PBR652) sells one billionth Groupon, first Groupon was sold in October 2008. $GRPN PR link.

Olin Corp(PBR838) president/COO John Fischer to become CEO on 05/01/16, succeeds retiring Joe Rupp. $OLN PR link.

Revlon(PBR900) president/CEO Lorenzo Delpani to step down effective 03/01/16, will remain on board; Gianni Pieraccioni appointed as new COO. $REV PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says January Personal Income Annual Rate at $15.691 trillion, +0.5% from December, Personal Savings Rate at 5.2%. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce restates 4th Quarter GDP Annual Rate from 0.7% to 1.0%, $18.148 trillion, 2015 GDP was 2.4%. USDOC PR link.

Energy: Energy companies’ latest move as oil prices slump? Sell, sell, sell. MarketWatch article link.

Consumer Credit: This is how many Americans have ‘great’ credit. MarketWatch article link.

Thursday, February 25:

McKesson(PBR6) making 2 acquisitions, Vantage Oncology & Biologics, for a total of $1.2 billion. $MCK PR link.

Best Buy(PBR73) authorizes new $1 billion share buyback program over 2 years. $BBY PR link.

Halliburton(PBR90 $HAL) to cut 5,000 jobs, 8% of workforce, had announced 22,000 job cuts previously. MarketWatch article link.

Kohl’s(PBR149) plans $600 million share buyback program with $50/share average. $KSS PR link.

Gap Inc(PBR179) authorizes $1 billion share buyback program, supersedes previous program. $GPS PR link.

Estee Lauder(PBR255) has acquired Paris-based global luxury fragrances provider By Kilian, terms not disclosed. $EL PR link.

Packaging Corp(PBR425) authorizes additional $200 million for share repurchase program. $PKG PR link.

Dynegy(PBR777) & Energy Capital Partners form joint venture to acquire ENGIE’s US fossil portfolio for $3.3 billion. $DYN PR link.

Equifax(PBR795) completes $1.9 billion acquisition of Australia based credit information company Veda Group. $EFX PR link.

Restoration Hardware(PBR915)’s new membership program gives analysts pause. $RH PR link.

Republic Airways(PBR1015) files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, appoints Lars Arnell as SVP/Chief Restructuring Officer. $RJET PR link.

Core-Mark(PBR271) SVP/CFO Stacy Lorentz-Congdon retiring at end of 2016, VP/Chief Accounting Officer Christopher Miller to be CFO on 05/01/16. $CORE PR link.

Ralph Lauren(PBR349) President-Global Brands Chris Peterson to leave on 05/31/16, position to be eliminated. $RL PR link.

Avery Dennison(PBR396) president/COO Mitchell Butier to be president/CEO on 05/01/16. CEO Dean Scarborough to become executive chairman. $AVY PR link.

Urban Outfitters(PBR638) promotes David McCreight to president. $URBN PR link.

Sprouts Farmers Market(PBR688) hires Brad Lukow as CFO, effective 03/04/16. $SFM PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says US 02/20/16 Initial Unemployment Claims at 272,000, +10,000 from previous week, total at 2,253,000. USDOL PR link.

FreddieMac(PBR42) says US Average 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rate at 3.62% with 0.6 points/fees. $FMCC PR link.

Wednesday, February 24:

Caterpillar(PBR54) VP Electric Power Division Steve Niehaus is retiring, division to be consolidated with Marine & Petroleum Power divisions. $CAT PR link.

TJX Cos(PBR96) adds $1.5-2.0 billion to share buyback pgm, current balance is $1.5 billion, expires 01/28/17. $TJX PR link.

Southern Co(PBR155) to acquire electric utilities technologies provider PowerSecure Intl(NYSE: POWR) for $18.75/share, $431 million cash, to close 2Q2016. $SO PR link.

BB&T(PBR277) to acquire $200 million revenues/year commercial wholesale insurance provider Swett & Crawford, terms not disclosed. $BBT PR link.

Marathon Petroleum(PBR23) chairman Thomas Usher to retire 04/27/16, president/CEO Gary Heminger to then add chairman title. $MPC PR link.

Boeing(PBR27) promotes Leanne Caret to president/CEO-Defense, Space, & Security, succeeds retiring Chris Chadwick. $BA PR link.

Level 3 Communications(PBR375) CEO Jeff Storey to take 2 month temporary medical leave for heart surgery, CFO Sunit Patel to also be Interim CEO. $LVLT PR link.

The US Dept of Housing & Urban Development says January New Single-Family Sales Annual Rate was at 494,000 units, -9.2% from December, -5.2% from January 2015. HUD PR link.

Taxes: 45% of Americans pay no federal income tax. MarketWatch article link.

Robotics: IDC Forecasts Worldwide Spending on Robotics to Reach $135 Billion in 2019. IDC PR link.

Opinion-US Economy: Markit’s PMI shows significant risk of US economy falling into contraction. Full analysis: Markit article link.

Tuesday, February 23:

Viacom(PBR212) to explore strategic investment partnership for Paramount Pictures. $VIA PR link.

Airgas(PBR461) stockholders approve acquisition by France based Air Liquide(Euronext Paris: AI) for $143/share, $13.4 billion cash, expected to close 2Q or 3Q2016. $ARG PR link.

Activision Blizzard(540) completes acquisition of London based gaming developer King Digital Entertainment(NYSE: KING) for $18.00/share, $5.9 billion, creating largest game network in the world with over 500 million users. $ATVI PR link.

Lexmark(PBR601) to eliminate 550 of 14,000 positions worldwide over next 12 months. $LXK PR link.

Cooper Tire & Rubber(PBR618) authorizes new $200 million share repurchase program through 12/31/17. $CTB PR link.

Monster Beverage(PBR785) to acquire American Fruits & Flavors for $690 million, to close 1Q2016. $MNST PR link.

Eastman Chemical(PBR288) retirements for COO Ron Lindsey, SVP Integrated Supply Chain Godefroy Motte; 5 promotions announced. $EMN PR link.

Discovery Communications(PBR399) CFO Andrew Warren to leave company at end of 2016. $DISCA PR link.

Toll Brothers(PBR577) Vice Chairman/Co-Founder Bruce Toll to retire on 03/08/16. $TOL PR link.

Cooper Tire & Rubber(PBR618) Chairman/CEO Roy Armes to retire on 08/31/16, COO Bradley Hughes to then become President/CEO. $CTB PR link.

The National Assn of Realtors says January Existing Home Sales was at a 5.47 million annual rate, median price $213,800. NAR PR link.

S&P/Case-Shiller December US National Home Prices Index was +0.1% from November, +5.4% from December 2014. C-S PR link.

Housing: What the shrinking amount of mortgage debt tells us about the housing market. MarketWatch article link.

Fashion: Wearable device sales soar, led by Fitbit MarketWatch article link.

Monday, February 22:

Verizon(PBR15) to acquire fiber-optic network business of XO Communications for about $1.8 billion, expected to close 1H2017. $VZ PR link.

United Technologies(PBR45) confirms it has been in talks with Honeywell(PBR74 $HON), has concerns about regulatory obstacles, customer concerns, & valuations issues. $UTX PR link.

Sysco(PBR61) to acquire European food services distributor Brakes Group for $3.1 billion, includes $2.3 billion of debt. $SYY PR link.

Bristol-Myers Squibb(PBR185) completes sale of its HIV R&D portfolio to ViiV Healthcare for $350 million up front with $2.5 billion in future incentives. $BMY PR link.

Fortune Brands(PBR469) authorizes $400 million share repurchase program over next 2 years. $FBHS PR link.

Lumber Liquidators(PBR1061 $LL) wood flooring cancer risk greater than previously reported because of inaccurate calculation by CDC. MarketWatch PR link.

Kroger(PBR20) Smith’s division president Jay Cummins to retire on 04/29/16 after 44 years with company. $KR PR link.

Blackhawk Network(PBR998) president Talbott Roche now also CEO, succeeds William Tauscher who remains chairman. $HAWK PR link.

Markit February Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI of 51.0 flashes warning sign. MarketWatch PR link.

Friday, February 19:

The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 16,391.99, +2.62% from last week, -0.45% MTD, -5.93% QTD/YTD, -10.49% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,504.43, +3.85% from last week, -2.37 MTD, -10.04% QTD/YTD, -13.69% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 1,917.78, +2.84% from last week, -1.16% MTD, -6.17% QTD/YTD, -10.00% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Apple(PBR5 $AAPL) vs. the FBI: A complete guide regarding the phone encryption controversy. MarketWatch PR link.

Citigroup(PBR28) to sell consumer businesses in Brazil, Argentina, and Columbia. $C PR link.

Coca-Cola(PBR63) signs letter of intent to grant additional bottling territory to Swire Coca-Cola USA. $KO PR link.

AutoNation(PBR148) has $250 million available for share repurchase program. $AN PR link.

Yahoo!(PBR519) forms independent committee to explore strategic alternatives. $YHOO PR link.

Perrigo(PBR565) to relocate global investor relations, global treasury functions from US to Ireland headquarters. $PRGO PR link.

Intl Flavors & Fragrances(PBR666) promotes Dionisio Ferenc as VP, Global Fine Fragrances. $IFF PR link.

Mueller Industries(PBR812) to acquire 60% interest in S Korea based global copper-based pipe joining manufacturer Jungwoo Metal, terms not disclosed. $MLI PR link.

Booz Allen Hamilton(PBR466) CFO Kevin Cook to retire, EVP Lloyd Howell, Jr to be CFO on 07/01/16. $BAH PR link.

SeaWorld(PBR1013) promotes John Reilly to Chief Parks Operations Officer & Dr. Chris Dold to Chief Zoological Officer, effective 04/01/16; forms Resort Development Group. $SEAS PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the January Current Average Earnings/Hour was $25.39, +0.47% from December, +2.5% from January 2015. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the January Consumer Price Index was unchanged from December, +1.4% over the past 12 months, seasonally unadjusted. USDOL PR link.

Thursday, February 18:

IBM(PBR25) Watson Health unit to acquire Truven Health Analytics for $2.6 billion. strong>$IBM PR link.

Qualcomm(PBR106) & Lenova sign 3G/4G China patent license agreement. $QCOM PR link.

DISH Network(PBR196) ends 2015 with 13.897 million Pay-TV subscribers, ended 2014 with 13.978 million. $DISH PR link.

Alliance Data(PBR462) adds $500 million for new $1 billion balance available for 2016 share buyback program. $ADS PR link.

Arthur J Gallagher(PBR515) acquires Santa Monica, CA, based retail insurance broker White & Co Insurance, terms not disclosed. $AJG PR link.

Cabela’s(PBR606) EVP/COO Michael Copeland to transition to strategic advisory role over next month. $CAB PR link.

Wednesday, February 17:

Ingram Micro(PBR62) to be acquired by & become subsidiary of China based Tianjin Tianhai for $38.90/share, $6.0 billion cash, to close 2H2016. $IM PR link.

T-Mobile US(PBR95) reports 2.1 million net new adds to its wireless network in 4Q15, 8.3 million total in 2015. $TMUS PR link.

Capital One(PBR116) authorizes additional $300 billion for $3.125 billion share buyback program authorized in 2015. $COF PR link.

Devon Energy(PBR143) to offer 69,000,000 common shares at $18.75/share, proceeds to be used for a variety of financial purposes. $DVN PR link.

Targa Resources(PBR308) completes all equity acquisition of Targa Resources Partners. $TRGP PR link.

DSW(PBR778) to acquire e-commerce off-price footwear & accessories retailer eBuys for $62.5 million plus future performance payments. $DSW PR link.

Kroger(PBR20) SVP Retail Operations & Strategic Initiatives Marnette Perry retiring after 44 years with company, effective 04/29/16. $KR PR link.

Caterpillar(PBR54) announces new responsibilities for VPs Doug Hoerr, Greg Folley, & Tana Utley, effective 03/01/16. $CAT PR link.

Level 3 Communications(PBR375) makes EVP/Chief Admin Officer Laurinda Pang Regional President of N. America & Asia Pacific. $LVLT PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the January Producer Price Index for Final Demand was +0.1%, was -0.2% in Dec, -0.2% from January 2015. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says the January Private Housing Units Building Permits Issued annual rate was at 1,202,000, -0.2% from December, +13.5% from January 2015. USDOC PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says January Total Industrial Production Capacity at 77.1%, December was 76.4%, January 2015 was 79.1% FRB PR link.

The US Federal Reserve releases January FOMC Statement, reviews economic situation, maintains 0.25-0.50% funds rate. FRB PR link.

Tuesday, February 16:

United Continental(PBR77) & PAFCA reach tentative agreement for its 420 dispatchers. $UAL PR link.

Upon merger completion Staples(PBR122) & Office Depot(PBR182 $ODP) to sell $550+ million revs/yr from Fortune 500 clients to Essendant(PBR458 $ESND) for $22.5 million. $SPLS PR link.

Stryker Corp(PBR283) to acquire defibrillators provider Physio-Control Intl from Bain Capital for $1.28 billion cash. $SYK PR link.

Graphic Packaging(PBR553) completes acquisition of 2 location folding carton manufacturer Walter G Anderson, terms not disclosed. $GPK PR link.

ADT(PBR627) to be acquired by affiliate of Apollo Global Mgmt(PBR906 $APO) for $42.00/share, a 56% premium on 02/12/16 closing price. $ADT PR link.

Devon Energy(PBR143) restructures senior leadership, EVP E&P Tony Vaughn promoted to COO; EVP-HR, EVP-Marketing to retire. $DVN PR link.

Steel Dynamics(PBR306) co-founder/EVP Steelmaking & president/COO Steel Operations Richard Teets, Jr. retiring, 3 SVP promotions announced. $STLD PR link.

Caesars Entertainment(PBR314) hires Les Ottolenghi as EVP-Chief Information Officer, reports to president/CEO. $CZR PR link.

Fiserv(PBR474) hires Robert Hau as CFO, effective 03/14/16. $FISV PR link.

hhgregg(PBR864) CFO Robert Riesbeck now also interim president/CEO, Dennis May has left. $HGG PR link.

Monday, February 15:

***U.S. Presidents’ Day***
***U.S. Stock Markets Closed.***

Freeport-McMoRan(PBR128) sells 13% interest in Morenci Mine to Sumitoma Metal Mining for $1.0 billion cash. $FCX PR link.

JCPenney(PBR234) Chief Merchant John Tighe to oversee product development and design within merchandising organization; Supply Chain SVP Mike Robbins assumes added responsibility for global sourcing. $JCP PR link.

Crown Holdings(PBR298) promotes Robert Bourque, Jr to President-Asia Pacific Division, effective 05/01/16, succeeds retiring Jozef Salaerts, reports to president/CEO. $CCK PR link.

Celanese(PBR369) promotes SVP-HR Lori Johnston to EVP-Chief Administrative Officer. $CE PR link.

PulteGroup(PBR428) promotes Ryan Marshall to president, Harmon Smith to COO. $PHM PR link.

Friday, February 12:
The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 15,973.84, -1.43% from last week, -2.99% MTD, -8.33% QTD/YTD, -12.77% from record 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,337.51, -0.59% from last week, -5.99 MTD, -13.38% QTD/YTD, -16.89% from record 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 1,864.78, -0.81% from last week, -3.89% MTD, -8.77% QTD/YTD, -12.49% from record 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Lear Corp(PBR165) increases share buyback program to $1 billion, expires 12/31/17. $LEA PR link.

L Brands(PBR247 $LB) Victoria’s Secret CEO Sharen Turney resigns. MarketWatch article link.

NASDAQ(PBR618) to acquire 8,500 clients global news distributor & analytics provider MarketWired, terms not disclosed. $NDAQ PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says January Year to Year Import Price Index was -6.2%, lead by fuel at -34.5%, Exports at -5.7%, USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says December Manufacturing/Trade Sales were $1.3 trillion, -0.6% from November, -2.7% from December 2014. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says January Retail/Food Services Sales were $449.9 billion, +0.2% from December, +3.4% from January 2014. USDOC PR link.

Thursday, February 11:

AIG(PBR46) adds $5.0 billion to share repurchase program, balance is $5.8 billion. $AIG PR link.

Brunswick(PBR584) increases share repurchase program by $300 billion, balance is $360 billion. $BC PR link.

JetBlue(PBR429) promotes John Culp to VP-Inflight Experience & Rachel McCarthy to VP-Talent. $JBLU PR link.

Hyatt Hotels(PBR537) hires Patrick Grismer as CFO, effective 03/14/16. $H PR link.

Brunswick(PBR584) president/COO Mark Schwabero elected as chairman/CEO, succeeds retiring Dustan McCoy. Brenna Preisser promoted to VP-Chief Human Resources Officer, succeeds retiring Russell Lockridge. $BC PR link.

W.R. Grace(PBR625) hires Thomas Blaser to be SVP-Finance/CFO. $GRA PR link.

Wednesday, February 10:

Amazon(PBR29) replaces current $2 billion share repurchase program with a $5 billion one, no termination date. $AMZN PR link.

Caterpillar(PBR54) names Rimco, its dealer for Puerto Rico & Eastern Caribbean, as its Cuba dealer. $CAT PR link.

Cisco(PBR60) adds $15 billion to share repurchase program, balance is $16.9 billion, no termination date set. $CSCO PR link.

Pilgrim’s Pride(PBR310) increases share buyback program from $150 million to $300 million over next 12 months. $PPC PR link.

Mylan(PBR346) to acquire Sweden based 4,500 employee global pharmaceuticals provider Meda for $9.9 billion, includes debt. $MYL PR link.

Carlyle Group(PBR581) announces $200 million share repurchase program. $CG PR link.

IGT(PBR878) North American subsidiary gets multi-year licensing deal for Life is Good lottery products. $IGT PR link.

UPS(PBR47) CEO David Abney elected to also be chairman. $UPS PR link.

The US Dept of Treasury says January Federal Government Receipts were $313.6 billion, Outlays $258.4 billion, Surplus $55.2 billion, Fiscal YTD Deficit is $160.4 billion. Treasury PR link.

The Natl Retail Federation forecasts 2016 Retail Sales to grow by 3.1%, non-store sales to grow 6-9%. NRF PR link.

Tuesday, February 9:

Amazon(PBR29) Web Services announces Amazon Lumberyard, a free cross-platform, 3D game engine integrated with AWS & Twitch. $AMZN PR link.

Cummins(PBR146) to do $500 million, 4 million shares, accelerated share repurchase deal with Goldman Sachs(PBR76 $GS). $CMI PR link.

Viacom(PBR212) and Snapchat enter into global content production and ad sales deal. $VIA PR link.

Cabela’s(PBR606) promotes EVP/Chief Commercial Officer Scott Williams to president. $CAB PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says December Job Openings at 5.6 million, Hires at 5.4 million, Separations at 5.1 millions. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says December US Wholesale Sales were $440.0 billion, -0.3% from November, -4.5% from December 2014. USDOC PR link.

Monday, February 8:

Pfizer(PBR56) names executive leadership team for combined organization upon close of proposed Allergan(PBR219 $AGN) transaction, expected in 2nd half of 2016. $PFE PR link.

Apollo Education(PBR681) to be taken private in $9.50/share, $1.1 billion cash transaction. $APOL PR link.

Sunday, February 7:

Super Bowl 50: The Denver Broncos win 24-10 against the Carolina Panthers in a defense dominated championship game.

Friday, February 5:
The PBR1000 End of Week US Stock Exchanges Snapshot:
DJIA ends week at 16,204.97, -1.59% from last week/MTD, -7.00% QTD/YTD. Record: 18,312.39 on 05/19/15.
NASDAQ ends week at 4,363.14, -5.44% from last week/MTD, -12.87% QTD/YTD. Record: 5,218.86 on 07/20/15.
SPX ends week at 1,880.05, -3.10% from last week/MTD, -8.02% QTD/YTD. Record: 2,130.82 on 05/21/15.

Calpine Corp(PBR330) completes $500 million acquisition of 745 megawatt power plan New Hampshire based Granite Ridge Energy Center. $CPN PR link.

Mattress Firm(PBR932) completes $780 million acquisition of 1,050 stores Sleepy’s, now has nearly 3,500 locations. $MFRM PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says US Number of Employed at 150.5 million, unemployed at 7.8 million, unemployment rate at 4.9%. USDOL PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says December US Total Consumer Credit at $3.547 trillion, +0.60% from November, +6.92% from December 2014. FRB PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says 2015 US Total Exports were $2.230 trillion, Imports $2.762 trillion, Deficit $0.532 trillion. USDOC PR link.

Thursday, February 4:

Duke Energy(PBR114) considering sale of all or a portion of its International Energy business. $DUK PR link.

Icahn Enterprises(PBR147) completes $18.50/share, $1.03 billion acquisition of Pep Boys(PBR872). $IEP PR link.

Viacom(PBR212) names Sumner Redstone as chairman emeritus, president/CEO Phillipe Dauman elected executive chairman. $VIA PR link.

Genworth Financial(PBR287) to restructure, to separate longterm care business, suspend sales of traditional life & fixed annuity products. $GNW PR link.

Symantec(PBR384) gets $500 million from Silver Lake Partners, total capital return program increased to $5.5 billion. $SYMC PR link.

Group 1 Automotive(PBR276) acquires UK 12 dealerships Spire Automotive Group with $575 million annual revenues; divests 3 US dealerships with $160 million revenues/year; promotes Frank Grese, Jr, to SVP-Human Resources, Daryl Kenningham to Regional VP-West, David Fesmire Regional VP-East. $GPI PR link.

Bemis(PBR545) increases repurchase program by 20 million shares, balance is now 22.8 million shares. $BMS PR link.

TD Ameritrade(PBR662) acquires big data firm FA Insights, terms not disclosed. $AMTD PR link.

W.R. Grace(PBR625) promotes SVP/CFO Hudson La Force to president/COO. $GRA PR link.

Kennametal(PBR706) hires Ronald DeFeo as president/CEO, effective immediately, Donald Nolan has left. $KMT PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the 2015 Average Annual Labor Productivity was +0.6% from 2014. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says the December US Shipments at $467.0 billion, -1.4% from November, 8th down month in last 9 months. USDOC PR link.

Wednesday, February 3:

Wells Fargo(PBR30 $WFC) reaches $1.2 billion settlement with the US Dept of Justice regarding 2001-2010 FHA loan issues. SEC filing link.

Home Depot(PBR32) hiring more than 80,000 for Spring. $HD PR link.

Comcast(PBR42) authorizes $10 billion share repurchase program, $5 billion to be spent in 2016. $CMCSA PR link.

Lowe’s(PBR50) to acquire Canadian home improvement retailer/distributor RONA for $2.3 billion cash. $LOW PR link.

Cisco(PBR60) to acquire private IoT services platform provider Jasper Technologies for $1.4 billion cash. $CSCO PR link.

W.R. Grace(PBR625) completes separation of GCP Applied Technologies(NYSE: GCP) into a separate public company. $GRA PR link.

Autodesk(PBR773) to restructure, reduce staff by 10%(925 positions), transition to cloud, focus on subscription business. $ADSK PR link.

GoPro(PBR1010) ships 6.6 million cameras in 2015, +27% from 2014, promotes Brian McGee to CFO, succeeds retirng Jack Lazar, effective 03/11/16. $GPRO PR link.

Delta Air Lines(PBR72) CEO Richard Anderson to become executive chairman on 05/02/16, president Ed Bastian to be CEO, Gil West is now SEVP/COO. $DAL PR link.

Manpower(PBR132) hires Jack McGinnis as CFO, Michael Van Handel to be Sr EVP, effective 02/15/16. $MAN PR link.

SuperValu(PBR164) hires Mark Gross as president/CEO, succeeds retiring Sam Duncan. $SVU PR link.

CBS(PBR210) president/CEO Leslie Moonves adds chairman title with resignation of Sumner Redstone who is now chairman emeritus. $CBS PR link.

Greenbrier Cos(PBR846) promotes CFO Mark Rittenbaum to EVP-Commercial, Leasing & Finance, Lorie Tekorius promoted to SVP-CFO & Treasurer. $GBX PR link.

ADP says the January Change in Non-Farm Private Sector Employment was +205,000 jobs, 192,000 were from services sector. $ADP PR link.

Institute for Supply Management says the January Non-Manufacturing Index was at 53.5%, down from 55.8% in December. $ISM PR link.

Tuesday, February 2:

Alphabet(PBR44 $GOOG) officially surpasses Apple(PBR5 $AAPL) as world’s most valuable company. MarketWatch PR link.

3M(PBR92) authorizes $10 billion share repurchase program with no completion date. $MMM PR link.

Staples(PBR122) and Office Depot(PBR182 $ODP) extend completion of merger from 02/04/16 to 05/16/16 for completion of FTC litigation. $SPLS PR link.

Lithia Motors(PBR451) acquires $65 million/year Toyota/Scion of Milford, MA. $LAD PR link.

Yahoo!(PBR519) announces 4 point strategic plan, includes 15% reduction in workforce. $YHOO PR link.

Chipotle(PBR561) opened 229 restaurants in 2015, has 2,010 stores, plans to add 220-235 in 2016. $CMG PR link.

Salesforce(PBR453) vice chairman/president Keith Block adds COO to responsibilities. $CRM PR link.

Hub Group(PBR611) hires Geoff DeMartino as VP Corporate Development. $HUBG PR link.

KB Home(PBR802) hires Jill Peters as SVP-Investor Relations. $KBH PR link.

Viavi Solutions(PBR944) hires Oleg Khaykin as president/CEO. $VIAV PR link.

Allscripts Healthcare(PBR1014) hires Melinda Whittington to be CFO. $MDRX PR link.

Mergers/Acquisitions: US retail, consumer M&A rose in value, declined in volume in 2015. MarketWatch article link.

Auto Industry: January US New Auto Sales at 1.148 million vehicles, -0.4% from January 2015, annual rate 17.55 million. Auto News article link.

Auto Industry: January US New Auto Sales Revenues at $38.052B, +1.4% from January 2015, avg trans price $33,155. TrueCar article link.

Monday, February 1:
Click here for The PBR1000 January 2016 Monthly Breaking News Recap.

Amazon(PBR29) inks production deal with Mattel(PBR412 $MAT) to greenlight American Girl specials for prime video. $AMZN PR link.

Abbott Labs(PBR134) to acquire global point of care diagnostics provider Alere(PBR752 $ALR) for $56/share, $5.8 billion. $ABT PR link.

Dominion Resources(PBR229) to combine with natural gas supplier Questar(NYSE: STR) for $25/share, $4.4 billion, includes debt assumption. $D PR link.

Stryker Corp(PBR283) to acquire medical disposable products provider Sage Products from Madison Dearborn Partners for $2.775 billion cash. $SYK PR link.

Ashland(PBR407) completes acquisition of 89 Oil Can Henry’s quick lube stores. $ASH PR link.

Chipotle(PBR561 $CMG) gets final report from Center for Disease Control regarding e. coli outbreaks, appears over. CDC PR link.

NASDAQ(PBR618) completes acquisition of alternate trading platform Chi-X Canada, terms not disclosed. $NDAQ PR link.

TreeHouse Foods(PBR690) completes $2.7 billion acquisition of ConAgra(PBR166 $CAG) Private Brands. $THS PR link.

Walter Energy(PBR1006) to sell remaining US assets to Seminole Coal Resources to satisfy bankruptcy restructuring program. $WLTGQ PR link.

TJX Cos(PBR96) president Ernie Herman now also CEO, chairman/CEO Carol Meyrowitz now executive chairman. $TJX PR link.

Macy’s(PBR97) names Peter Sachse as Chief Growth Officer, hires Justin MacFarlane as Chief Strategy, Analytics & Innovations Officer, both report to president Jeff Gennette. $M PR link.

Medtronic(PBR133) acquires private Italy based hemodialysis treatment solutions provider Bellco, terms not disclosed. $MDT PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR107) promotes Katie Watson to EVP-Human Resources. $GILD PR link.

CarMax(PBR202) EVP-HR Bill Nash promoted to president, to become CEO upon retirement of Tom Follard by end of 2016, Cliff Wood promoted to COO. $KMX PR link.

Herbalife(PBR487) hires Dr. John Agwunobi as Chief Health and Nutrition Officer. $HLF PR link.

Patterson Cos(PBR542) hires Kelly Baker as Chief Human Resources Officer. $PDCO PR link.

Cabot Corp(PBR607) president/CEO Patrick Prevost continues to be on medical leave, working part-time from home, expects to return full-time soon. $CBT PR link.

Cooper-Standard(PBR644) promotes Sharon Wenzl to SVP-Corporate Communications/Community Affairs. $CPS PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says December Disposable Personal Income Annual Rate at $13.654 trillion, +0.3% from November, Personal Savings at 5.5%. USDOC PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce says December US Construction Spending at $1.117 trillion annual rate, +0.1% from November, +8.2% from December 2014. USDOC PR link.

The Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® January PMI at 48.2, up 0.2 from December. ISM PR link.

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(The PBR1000 is the premiere business intelligence service covering over 1,000 of the largest publicly held companies with principle or administration headquarters in the US. These companies generate nearly $14 trillion in annual worldwide revenues, more than all other companies in the US combined. These are the key drivers in the US and world economies. On a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis several analytical reports in customizable Microsoft Excel format are provided to The PBR1000 subscribers. Users include C-level executives, entrepreneurs,  sales/marketing/advertising professionals, investors/investment advisors, business professors/students, career counselors/job seekers, to name just a few. To order your annual subscription, just go to the PBRMarketTools.com Subscribe page.)

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