Looking back at 2024, commodities saw notable volatility driven by geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, inflation, and shifting demand patterns. Agriculture markets stood out with softs up 46.87% led by Cocoa +175.14% and coffee +80.56%. Livestock up16.37% led by Lean Hogs +19.61%, Feeder Cattle +17.88% and Live Cattle +11.61%. The largest price falls were in grains (-14.75%) led by Soybeans -21.88%, Rough Rice -18.52% and Soybean Meal -17.90%. Gold hit record highs as inflation, safe haven, and Russia and China … Continue reading “Commodities Roadmap: Cocoa, Coffee and OJ Versus Gold and Oil”
ExxonMobil Revenue Beats with Guyana Oil Production Rising Faster Than Expected
Energy giant ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, reported first quarter net income fell to $8.22B, or $2.06/share, from $11.43B, or $2.79/share from the year-ago quarter and lower than expectations for $2.19. That said the result was still XOM’s second highest Q1 profit in the past decade. Revenues fell 4% Y/Y to $83.08B but were ahead of analyst expectations. The result comes after Exxon reported a $36 billion profit for 2023 boosted by fuels trading and higher oil and gas … Continue reading “ExxonMobil Revenue Beats with Guyana Oil Production Rising Faster Than Expected”
Resilient Halliburton Tops Q1 Profit Forecasts with International Demand
Houston, Texas based oilfield services giant Halliburton reported better than expected first-quarter earnings before the market open Tuesday. It was the best profit in 12 Years despite shrinking shale. Higher drilling demand from international markets helped counter a slowdown in North America. HAL announced adjusted profit of 76 cents per share topping analysts’ average estimate of 74 cents per share, according to LSEG data. Revenue from Halliburton’s international segment rose 12%, to $3.3 billion while North America revenue declined 8%, … Continue reading “Resilient Halliburton Tops Q1 Profit Forecasts with International Demand”
Impressive 30-year Treasury Bond Sale Completes Strong Week of Auctions
The U.S. Treasury completed this week’s note and bond auction offerings today with another strong auction. U.S. Treasuries rallied off afternoon lows back to their starting levels after the U.S. Treasury’s $25 billion 30-yr bond sale. The auction drew a high yield of 4.360%, which stopped through the when-issued yield by two basis points. The bid-to-cover ratio (2.40x) was comfortably above average (2.38x), as was indirect takedown (70.7% vs 67.8% average). The S&P 500 continues to hover near record highs … Continue reading “Impressive 30-year Treasury Bond Sale Completes Strong Week of Auctions”
10-year Bond Auction Sees Strong International Takedown
U.S. Treasuries came off afternoon lows in reaction to strong demand at the $42 billion 10-yr Treasury note auction. The sale followed yesterday’s strong 3-yr note offering. The sale drew a high yield of 4.093%, which stopped through the when-issued yield by 1.2 bps while the bid-to-cover ratio (2.56x vs 2.49x average) and indirect takedown (71.0% vs 66.7%) were comfortably above their respective prior 12-auction averages. However, the 5-yr note and longer tenors continue with small losses while shorter tenors … Continue reading “10-year Bond Auction Sees Strong International Takedown”
Bonds Bounce After Sharp Losses Following Strong 3-year Treasury Note Auction
U.S. Treasuries traded to fresh highs after the completion of today’s $54 bln 3-yr note sale, which met strong demand. U.S. bonds climbed on Tuesday, bouncing from two days of sharp losses. No U.S. economic data on today’s calendar helped also. The sale drew a high yield of 4.169%, which stopped through the when-issued yield by a solid 0.8 bps while the bid-to-cover ratio (2.58x vs 2.68x) was below average. Indirect takedown (66.0% vs 63.1%) was solid. Issues in the … Continue reading “Bonds Bounce After Sharp Losses Following Strong 3-year Treasury Note Auction”
Meta Platforms Stock Soars 20% After Initiates Dividend, Strong Engagement Trends
Social media beast Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook shares soared around 20% after earnings beats by $0.51, beats on revs and guiding Q1 revs above consensus. Meta Initiated a quarterly dividend of $0.50/share and also announced a $50 billion increase to share repurchase program. The company said it is experiencing strong engagement trends across apps and capex growth will be driven by investments in servers and data centers as it invests in AI. All the bad was forgiven at the … Continue reading “Meta Platforms Stock Soars 20% After Initiates Dividend, Strong Engagement Trends”
Chevron Revenue Increases from PDC Energy, Raises Dividend 8%
Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company after Exxon, on Friday reported stronger-than-expected third quarter earnings. CVX posted total adjusted earnings of $2.3 billion, or $3.45 a share beating analysts looking for a profit of $3.19 a share. Chevron announced record annual production, enabled by the acquisition of Colorado producer PDC Energy and raised the quarterly dividend by 8% to $1.63 a share bringing the company’s dividend yield to 4.3%, ahead of Exxon’s 3.7%. Chevron spent a record $26 billion on … Continue reading “Chevron Revenue Increases from PDC Energy, Raises Dividend 8%”
Higher Oil and Gas ExxonMobil Trading Profits and Production in 2023
Energy giant ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, reported a better-than-expected $36 billion profit for 2023 boosted by fuels trading and higher oil and gas production. For the fourth quarter XOM EPS beat by $0.28 but missed on revenue expectations. Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods said the industry “saw energy prices and refining margins start to normalize in 2023.” Earnings across the energy space have been rebalancing by the slump in global natural gas and crude prices since last year’s … Continue reading “Higher Oil and Gas ExxonMobil Trading Profits and Production in 2023”
Stifled Demand at 7-year Treasury Bond Auction with International Buyers Returning
U.S. Treasuries completed this week’s note auctions with a $41bln 7-yr notes that met stifled demand, post-auction bonds climbed off their afternoon lows. The sale drew a high yield of 4.109%, which tailed the when-issued yield by 0.3 bps. That is 4.109% (When-Issued: 4.106%). However, the bid-to-cover ratio (2.57x vs 2.54x average) and indirect takedown (69.1% vs 68.9%) was up from 63.7% last month. In deference to yesterday’s poor 5-year auction. Equities bounced off their afternoon lows alongside the Treasury market’s … Continue reading “Stifled Demand at 7-year Treasury Bond Auction with International Buyers Returning”