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Dow Jones: 16,093.51 (+0.7%)
NASDAQ: 4,591.18 (+2.3%)
S&P 500: 1,906.90 (+1.4%)
Gold: 1,100.50 (+1.0%)
Copper: 200.15 (+3.1%)
Crude Oil: 32.03 (+8.0%)
Crude Oil rose 5.7% this week but was also very volatile falling to $26.20 midweek before rallying to close the week at $31.36. Commercial crude oil inventories (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 3.9 million barrels to 486.5 million barrels in the week ended January 15 from 482.6 million the previous week. The national average retail regular gasoline price fell to $1.914 from $1,996 per gallon the preceding week.
Existing home sales (completed sales of existing single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops) jumped 14.7% to 5.46 million in December from 4.76 million in November, 2015. Additionally, existing home sales are up 7.7% year over year. Total housing inventory i.e. homes available for sale declined by 3.8% in December to 1.76 million from 1.86 million a year ago.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) fell 0.1% in December, 2015 driven by declines in the food index (down 0.2%) and the energy index (down 2.4%), seasonally adjusted. Over the past 12 months, the CPI-U climbed 0.7% buoyed by gains in the food index (up 0.8%) but was significantly weighted down by declines in the energy index (down 12.6%), not seasonally adjusted.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reported a 2.1% decrease in net revenue for the year 2015. Net income fell 31.1% while diluted EPS declined 28.9% to $12.14 from $17.07 last year. The decline was driven by falling income from the investing and lending but was offset by investment banking revenue which rose 8.7%. Net income declined as a result of compensation remaining relatively unchanged and increased mortgage litigation expenses.
Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) total revenue fell 2.1% in 2015 while net income rose 280.2%. Diluted EPS rose 263.9% to $1.31 from $0.36 in 2014. The decline in total revenue was a result of falling revenue across all business segments while the net income increase came from a substantial reduction in noninterest expenses — specifically from a 78.4% decrease in legacy assets and servicing.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) reported an annual revenue increase of 3.6% and net income growth of 53.7% for 2015. Diluted earnings per share rose 80.6% to $4.37 in 2015 from $2.42 in 2014. The revenue growth was driven by an increase in the number of subscribers; video subscribers rose 3.2% to 5.827 million, internet subscribers climbed 6.3% to 7.034 million and voice subscribers grew 3.3% to 4.754 million.
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) revenue for Q1 2016 grew 11.9% but net income fell 30.1% YoY. Diluted earnings per share dropped 29.2% to $0.46 from $0.65 the same quarter the previous year. Although comparable store sales grew 8% and revenue from the US and China was up, operating expenses also grew 11.1% resulting in falling net income.
Looking ahead to next week, the following companies will be releasing their earnings results.
