Joseph Gomez, Sr. Investment Advisor and Portfolio Manager

With a gain of 6.8% six weeks into the year, the S&P 500 is currently off to its best start to the year since 1990. The S&P 500 is currently 21 points away from taking out its prior bull market closing high of 1,363.61 made on April 29th of last year.

Surprisingly, if you want to know how well US consumers are doing, look at the US Consumer Goods (IYK) and US Consumer Services (IYC) ETFs. They are both at historic highs. We have seen impressive reports from railroad companies and credit processing companies like MasterCard and Visa. This week we hear from Nordstrom’s (JWN) and Weight Watchers (WTW). I think the new Jennifer Hudson campaign has had a positive impact for the company.

If you are looking for income and growth, my favorite vehicle has been the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index ETF (DVY) with a current yield of 3.37%.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) have gone parabolic on news of the release of the iPad 3 in early March. Buy it on pullbacks. Key pivot points are the 10-day MA ($467) and the 20-day MA ($449). Below are some charts of interest, an earnings calendar, economic calendar and key interest rates. Next week, we get earnings from many utilities and broadcasters (see below).

Have a pleasant and productive week.

 Important Earnings Next Week

Ticker Company Sector Industry P/E Earnings Date
CMCSA Comcast Corporation Services CATV Systems 19.41 2/15/12 8:30
BIDU Baidu, Inc. Technology Internet Information Providers 52.33 2/16/12 16:30
APA Apache Corp. Basic Materials Independent Oil & Gas 10.21 2/16/12 8:30
GM General Motors Company Consumer Goods Auto Manufacturers – Major 5.74 2/16/12
MET MetLife, Inc. Financial Life Insurance 6.97 2/14/12 16:30
DE Deere & Company Industrial Goods Farm & Construction Machinery 13.21 2/15/12
DTV DIRECTV, Inc. Services CATV Systems 14.22 2/16/12
EOG EOG Resources, Inc. Basic Materials Independent Oil & Gas 29.12 2/17/12
DUK Duke Energy Corporation Utilities Electric Utilities 15.57 2/16/12 7:00
DVN Devon Energy Corporation Basic Materials Independent Oil & Gas 13.09 2/15/12
ESRX Express Scripts Inc. Healthcare Health Care Plans 19.67 2/13/12
CTL CenturyLink, Inc. Technology Telecom Services – Domestic 21.36 2/15/12 16:30
CBS CBS Corporation Services Broadcasting – TV 16.99 2/15/12
MMC Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Financial Insurance Brokers 19.54 2/14/12 8:30
HCP HCP, Inc. Financial REIT – Healthcare Facilities 27.05 2/14/12 8:30
AMAT Applied Materials Inc. Technology Semiconductor Equipment & Materials 8.93 2/16/12
PCG PG&E Corp. Utilities Electric Utilities 16.43 2/15/12 16:30
HNZ H. J. Heinz Company Consumer Goods Food – Major Diversified 17.52 2/17/12
WM Waste Management, Inc. Industrial Goods Waste Management 17.18 2/16/12 8:30
PGN Progress Energy Inc. Utilities Electric Utilities 20.61 2/16/12
MAR Marriott International, Inc. Services Lodging 62.67 2/15/12 17:00
CF CF Industries Holdings, Inc. Basic Materials Agricultural Chemicals 9.91 2/15/12 16:30
JWN Nordstrom Inc. Services Apparel Stores 16.49 2/16/12
ZNGA Zynga, Inc. Technology Internet Information Providers 2/14/12 16:30
RAX Rackspace Hosting, Inc. Technology Information Technology Services 103.21 2/13/12 16:30
WTW Weight Watchers International, Inc. Services Personal Services 19.03 2/14/12 16:30
MDRX Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. Technology Healthcare Information Services 101.4 2/16/12 16:30
UPL Ultra Petroleum Corp. Basic Materials Independent Oil & Gas 10.12 2/16/12 8:30
TSLA Tesla Motors, Inc. Consumer Goods Auto Manufacturers – Major 2/15/12 16:30
Z Zillow, Inc. Services Business Services 2/15/12
NILE Blue Nile Inc. Services Jewelry Stores 48.01 2/15/12
HSTM Healthstream Inc. Technology Internet Information Providers 63.89 2/17/12
OWW Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. Services General Entertainment 2/13/12
RAIL FreightCar America Inc. Services Railroads 2/17/12
MSO Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. Services Publishing – Periodicals 2/14/12
LOJN LoJack Corp. Services Security & Protection Services 2/13/12

 Key Rates from Bloomberg.com

CURRENT 1 MO PRIOR 3 MO PRIOR 6 MO PRIOR 1 YR PRIOR
Fed Funds Rate 0.12 0.07 0.07 0.13 0.13
Fed Reserve Target Rate 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
Prime Rate 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25
US Unemployment Rate 8.30 8.50 8.90 9.10 9.10
1-Month Libor 0.25 0.30 0.25 0.21 0.26
3-Month Libor 0.51 0.58 0.45 0.28 0.31

Mortgage* (National Average)

provided by Bankrate.com
CURRENT 1 MO PRIOR 3 MO PRIOR 6 MO PRIOR 1 YR PRIOR
30-Year Fixed 3.89 3.92 4.09 4.19 5.06
15-Year Fixed 3.21 3.24 3.40 3.43 4.32
5/1-Year ARM 2.87 2.89 3.01 2.92 3.63
1-Year ARM 2.72 2.75 2.94 2.97 3.02
30-Year Fixed Jumbo 4.64 4.62 4.74 4.91 5.57
15-Year Fixed Jumbo 3.97 3.86 4.04 4.27 4.85
5/1-Year ARM Jumbo 3.20 3.18 3.13 3.35 3.90

 Economic Calendar from Econoday.com

Monday Feb 13 Tuesday Feb 14 Wednesday Feb 15 Thursday Feb 16 Friday Feb 17
Retail Sales
[Report][Star]8:30 AM ET

Charles Plosser Speaks
8:45 AM ET

Redbook
[Bullet8:55 AM ET
 3-Yr Note Settlement10-Yr Note Settlement30-Yr Bond Settlement

Richard Fisher Speaks
9:15 AM ET

FOMC Minutes
[Star]2:00 PM ET
 Weekly Bill Settlement

Housing Starts
[Report][Star]8:30 AM ET
Jobless Claims
[Report][Star]8:30 AM ET

Ben Bernanke Speaks
9:00 AM ET

Money Supply
[Bullet4:30 PM ET

 

Clients, principals and/or employees of Alhambra Investment Partners may have long or short positions of any above-mentioned securities. For information on Alhambra Investment Partners’ money management services and global portfolio approach to capital preservation, Joseph Gomez  can be reached at jag@4kb.d43.myftpupload.com. 

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