Good Morning! Futures for the stock market today (Monday) forecasted a 31-point increase for the Dow from Friday's close ahead of the last busy week of the earnings season. The Dow Jones fell 251 points on Friday after a late oil-price surge caught the market off guard. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 8% in New York during the day.
What to Watch Today: Investors will react to Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) earnings and figures on consumer spending. Last quarter, consumer spending hit its largest decline since December 2009.
Here's what else you should know about the stock market today - including your "Money MorningTip of the Day" - to make it a profitable Monday:
Earnings Watch: Shares of energy giant Exxon Mobil were up marginally after the company reported Q4 earnings of $1.56 a share. That beat earnings expectations of $1.34 per share. XOM had revenue of $87.28 billion, just below Wall Street calls for $87.58 billion. The firm reported that quarterly revenue slipped by 21% as energy prices slumped. Shares were down roughly 0.5% this morning.
The Surge Continues: According to Huron Research, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is the most popular company in China. The firm's iPhone beat out both Louis Vuitton and Hermès as the most preferred gift choice of the year. Shares of Apple were up roughly 0.50% this morning.
Tax Time: This morning, President Obama proposed a $3.99 trillion budget for fiscal year 2016, the largest in history. The President is attempting to boost the middle class by raising taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.
Cooking Up Profits: On Friday, shares of Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) surged as much as 150% during its public debut. The New York-based burger chain was expected to open at $21 - a steep increase from the initial price range of $14 to $16 per share. But demand was immense, and the stock surged in its first hour. But is Shake Shack a good investment? Here's everything you need to know about SHAK stock.
Oil Prices Today: Oil prices are soaring.... Despite a large refinery strike in the United States, oil prices jumped above $55 per barrel temporarily as investors piled in this morning. Today, March 2015 futures for WTI oil hit $48.55 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil jumped to $53.37 per barrel.
Money MorningTip of the Day: Earnings reports are better than traders would have you believe.
Today's tip comes from Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald:
Markets took a sharp dip last week with investors reacting to dour earnings reports from major U.S. companies and sagging durable goods orders. Bellwether companies Caterpillar and Microsoft both disappointed, seemingly adding to the misery.
However, as usual, traders can't see the forest for the trees.
Trading action is really about a much stronger dollar, because it makes U.S. goods more expensive and naturally drags down earnings while also diminishing the value of foreign revenue. It's temporary at best.
The truth of the matter is that more than 70% of companies that have reported to date have beaten analyst estimates, profit margins are still growing, and sales are very much on the increase - at least when we're talking about companies tied into the Unstoppable Trends I discuss in my Total Wealth publication.
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.